Days Past
by MBIII
Summary: Sixteen year old Kaden and his two close friends will soon be attending Nova Academy, the most renowned Lombax School in existence. At Nova they will meet new friends, discover new challenges, and grow into the great Lombaxes they all have the potential to be. However, Nova Academy isn't the greatest for nothing. Kaden may have met his match before he even arrives.
1. The Quasar Express

**I'd like to thank SerenityColtheart for Beta Reading the next few chapters and offering her opinion on them.**

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Kaden stood waiting at the sky train platform's main boarding area with a couple dozen other Lombaxes all about his age. Hundreds more of all ages packed the rest of the station. Though only the few in the main boarding area were actually getting on, they were all waiting for the same train.

This particular sky train was quite famous. Reserved only for those Lombaxes affiliated with the most prominent and awe-inspiring school on Fastoon, Nova Academy.

Once per solar cycle the academy's private sky train traveled all over the planet, picking up newly admitted students. The event acted as a grand metaphor of Nova Academy scouring the planet for the best and brightest young Lombaxes. It was optional though and Kaden had never really liked overly showy celebrations or large crowds and would normally have traveled by teleportation. In this case he had opted to take the train instead of the more efficient teleportation hubs for several reasons.

One reason was that he had simply never been on a sky train before. They were massive, powerful, and expensive. Most were only economical if they shipped huge amounts of materials rather than people, so he thought it would be good to experience it at least once. He would also be able to look over the vast swathes of land that made up Fastoon. Though he frequently left the planet with his father in the past, he'd rarely seen the lands of Fastoon from outside his home city of Valmecha. It being one of largest and most industrial cities on the planet, there was virtually no place where he could see further than half a Galactic Standard mile.

Another reason for taking the train was that every school in Valmecha was about to open for the new semester. Had Kaden not been going to Nova Academy he would be preparing for it... just like every other family in the city. The teleporter hubs would be packed with people all trying to return from long vacations, moving into new school living areas, or just trying to enjoy the last few days of their semester break.

It only took a few seconds to travel by tele-transit. For this very reason however, the tele-transit systems didn't have many shift stations per location and would be unable to handle the current traffic demands. Kaden had realized this, as he always did, by thinking far into the future and predicting every twist and turn his day would take.

A loud whistle blew from somewhere in the distance and the sound rolled through the tall city buildings to reach the train station. Kaden knew what the sound was and he took a moment to appreciate its trick. The sonic manipulators on the sky train sent sound waves off at multiple frequencies, many of which couldn't be heard even with Lombax ears. They would later collide with correctly timed precision, and the sonic waves would balance each other to reach a comfortably perceivable level. This allowed its sound to blast through half the city without blowing out the eardrums of those nearby.

The Quasar Express, Nova Academy's personal sky train, crested a building in the distance with a flash of light. Cheers rang out from the large crowd as the train came to gather the finest of Valmecha's students.

"Ahhhh, isn't it amazing!?" exclaimed the female Lombax next to Kaden. She was a few inches shorter than he was. Her fur was an almost pure white, accented with lightly grey stripes, and with long flowing hair. Her hair was also white, but with a very subtle tint of blue. She was standing on the balls of her feet, shaking with anticipation as her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. She watched the train with as much interest as Kaden watched her.

Her name was Sorana Bellit, and she was the real reason Kaden had come to the train ceremony despite his dislike of large gatherings and flashy displays. He and Sorana had been friends from as far back as he could remember. He knew exactly how much she enjoyed events like these and she had been so excited when they both received admission to Nova Academy that he couldn't find way to tell her that he didn't want to go by train.

Kaden excelled at science and engineering, which for a Lombax were grounds for being celebritized. Sorana, on the other hand, was one of the most gifted musicians in Valmecha. Her performances were seen by the wealthiest and most powerful members of Valmechan society. They were very different now which made it seem miraculous to Kaden that their childhood friendship had remained unchanged.

The Quasar Express pulled into the station with a dramatically slow deceleration. A few seconds after it came to a complete halt a hologram of a female Lombax from the waist up materialized above the train. She looked down at all the would-be students with glowing holographic eyes.

"Congratulations!" she shouted. "By being able to stand here today you have proven yourselves to be among the best of your homes and surrounding areas. I am Vasile Tor'doran, the dean of Nova Academy. Today you take the next step on your journey to fulfilling your potential as Lombaxes; that next step being literally just thorough these doors." At once every door on the express hissed open. Clouds of mist rose from the open doorways and from each one came two robotic train porters who bowed in welcome to the gathered students.

Once again the hologram spoke, "Now come forth for student verification. Only those special few who have been accepted will be permitted on the train. Once you are verified, you may board the train. Final destination: Nova Academy." With those last words she disappeared, leaving excited Lombaxes to line up and get scanned.

Many said final goodbyes to family and friends. Some even looked saddened, but no one cried, because no matter how sad you were about leaving, no one could be sad about going.

"Good luck Kaden!" came a loud chorus from somewhere in the crowd.

Kaden winced at the words. He hesitantly turned, and waved stiffly at a large group of young Lombaxes who were all looking at him and cheering furiously. Kaden was famous among the student population of Valmecha for various reasons, so a few of them had formed fan clubs to share in their mutual love of his antics.

Kaden had never done anything with the specific intention of attracting fans, but he had a tendency to do it anyway. It may have had something to do with how thirty percent of his past experimental projects ended in at least a category seven explosion, but he was never really sure about it.

At first he disliked the attention. Kaden only cared about science and technology and nothing for fame or popularity. He even found the idea of having fans itself annoying. He did however greatly appreciate them occasionally, like during his most recent altercation with his school's disciplinary committee. Though Kaden had thought it was no big deal, the principle of their school had been furious to find out that his personal hover-car had been teleported to several locations around school grounds...at the same time. Thanks to the immense support from the student body however, he got off with only minor consequences.

Sorana shook her head lightly before heading to the closest train door. She never did like Kaden's fan clubs. Kaden sometimes liked to think it was out of jealously, but he knew better. Sorana also likely had many times more fans than he did, and he was sure her name was known by every refined Lombax in the city and beyond. Her admirers were just less...let's say enthusiastic (or fanatic).

Kaden and Sorana waited for their turn to be scanned. Their larger luggage was already being placed in the undercarriage of the train below the platform, completely unseen by the public. Any personal luggage was given to the porters to carry for them. Kaden had a backpack of gadgets and devices that he never went anywhere without and Sorana carried a simple traveling bag.

Suddenly an alarm went off nearby. One of the porters was holding a desperately trying to escape young Lombax by the wrist. Kaden had noticed that all the porters take a subtle, but firm grip on the students' wrists while scanning them. Two large armored robot guards jumped down from the top of the train and slowly walked up to the terrified Lombax. Grabbing a shoulder each they lifted him off the ground and carried him, still squirming for freedom, through the parting crowd and out of the station gates.

The Lombax hologram reappeared and smug looking Vasile Tor'doran beamed down at them. "Let me be clear! Only those chosen are permitted in my school. Those that try to gain entry without permission, and fail..." she paused and smiled. Several bright strobes of white light flashed in the windows of the station followed by a high-pitched whine and finally a ringing thump,"...will be punished accordingly." She finished her sentence with what seemed like repressed laughter and dissolved away again. Kaden got a sense of foreboding as he knew minor disputes with authority figures where unavoidable to him. This time however, he was unsure of what his future held.

Kaden and Sorana boarded the train and walked down the aisle together, looking for an empty compartment. Kaden was also paying close attention to the number plates engraved on the doors for some reason while the porter carrying Kaden's backpack and Sorana's travel bag followed behind obediently.

"Look Kaden. This one's empty." suggested Sorana while indicating an empty compartment ahead. Kaden examined the compartment in question as well as its number plate.

"Na, this one isn't right." he concluded to Sorana's confusion.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked, unsure of what difference there could be between it and any other compartment.

"Just trust me. I'll find a better one." Sorana sighed and followed him. It was better in her experience to just go with Kaden's apparently whimsical pursuit of some unseen perfection. A few minutes later Kaden and Sorana were sitting in a large, round compartment.

The room had a lavish circular couch taking up most of it and a small bar for drinks. Touch panels set in the walls allowed control of the compartment's features. Just as they were settling in and the porters had left, there was knock on the compartment door. Kaden opened it and mutual friend of theirs was standing on the other side.

"I knew it was you two!" declared an excited Alister Azimuth. "I figured you'd be getting on at this stop, but why didn't you link me? I told you I'd be onboard already."

"Huh. I must have forgot." replied Kaden as he slowly remembered a brief mentioning of meeting up during Alister's recent, excitement filled transmission. His friend had been yelling so many things about going to Nova Academy so quickly that Kaden barely remembered the one sided conversation.

Alister Azimuth was from a different city on Fastoon. He and Kaden had known each other for a long time, though not as long as Kaden had known Sorana.

Kaden's father was the chief engineer for Azimuth Trillium Mining Industries. One time, Kaden had accompanied his father on a trip to Kreeli Comet, an extremely rich source of Trillium ore, where he was taught about his father's job of designing the rigs and other equipment used for ore harvesting. Alister's father, who owns and runs the company, had brought his son along at the same time.

Kaden and Alister had bumped into each other while exploring the comet. They became friends following a hover-boot race that ended in a tie (they swapped NID link numbers more out of desire for a rematch). Through proximity to Kaden, Alister later became friends with Sorana.

"Well then it was a good thing I caught you." Alister continued, "We might have gone the entire trip to Nova and not met up." Alister entered the compartment and greeted Sorana before taking a seat across from her. Kaden then sat with Sorana as the train's intercom system alerted them that the Quasar Express would be departing soon.

The train blew its multi-frequency whistle again and slowly the station outside the window began moving away.

"Well, here we go." Alister said excitedly, looking as if he were on a strato-coaster. Kaden nodded, a small grin cracked his lips as he felt his friend's anticipation.

"I can't wait to see the mountains and valleys around the Academy." said Sorana happily. "They're supposed to be preserved, so technology doesn't inhibit their natural beauty." Kaden knew Sorana's top priority would be to see the scenery and lucky for her he had a surprise.

"Bah." scoffed Alister. "It's all the same. You see one piece of natural beauty you've seen too much natural beauty."

Fixing him with a glare of annoyance Sorana replied, "One, that's not how the saying goes and two, it's completely untrue in either phrasing. Nature is magnificent, why can't you see its glory?" Kaden was used to this argument. Alister was a fighter and little else, so of course anything in the artistic realm was beyond his understanding.

"Hah, that 'beauty' stuff is for sissies without tails. Uh...no offense." said Alister, as Sorana's eyes narrowed even more. "If you want to see glory you should have seen last week's Mechball game. Now that was glorious. Titanimus and Mercurial went head to head and they both had reactor overloads from the strain! That explosion was epic. Did you see it Kaden?"

Kaden, who had been messing with one of the control panels since the train had started moving, stopped and looked up at his name's mention.

"Yah, I saw it." he answered, "I was there."

"Whaaat?" whined Alister. "You went to a Mechball game without me? How could you?"

"I was invited." Kaden answered. "I can't bring people to something I was invited to. One of the fan clubs wanted to have a farewell party after they found out I'd be leaving for Nova when school started. Apparently they had some kind of connection to get the tickets."

"Well, how close was your seat? Did you see the twin reactor meltdowns?" asked Alister with a mixed look of both excitement and despair at the thought of what his friend may have seen without him.

"I was pretty close...I singed my fur a little. They should really increase the power on those arena shields."

"Singed fur?!" exclaimed Alister while jumping out of his seat and looking as if getting so close to twin, sub-meta level reactor meltdowns that your hair began to burn away was the single greatest thing a Lombax could experience.

"Honestly, I don't know why you accept gifts from those raving fans of yours." said Sorana with a disapproving tone.

"I've told you why." Kaden replied in a voice of mock annoyance. "If I don't accept their gifts they get upset and assume it's because I don't like them. Then things get really crazy." Alister escaped from his lamenting to pipe in on the subject.

"Hahaha, I'll say it does. Remember that time you didn't want that portrait of yourself?"

Kaden sighed and put his hand over his face as he remembered what Alister was talking about. One of his fan clubs had presented him with a giant portrait of himself. Upon seeing it his first thought was that he really didn't want it, but he didn't want to hurt their feelings. He tried to decline the gift by saying that if he took it nobody would ever see it but him, figuring they'd just hang it up in the art wing or something. The fan club in question had instead decided that his words meant he wanted it to be viewed by everyone. The next day he returned to find an entire side of the school building had been painted into a mural of him standing in laboratory. It is extremely hard to claim innocence to a crime that literally has your face on it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sorana's indignant question brought Kaden out of his reminiscing.

"Just putting something better on." stated Alister calmly, as if he couldn't hear the irritation in her voice.

Alister had just activated the holo-vision network system in the compartment through one of the control panels on the wall. The problem Sorana had was that the holo-vision display activated over top of the window that overlooked Fastoon as they traveled, simultaneously cutting off the outside light to the room for better video viewing.

Before Sorana could retort and demand that he return the window to normal Kaden interrupted, "Don't worry about it Sor. I've got something to show you." Kaden pushed the panel that he'd been working on back into the wall; his two companions were just now noticing that he had forcefully removed it.

With a few clicks on the replaced panel the room began to vibrate. Alister noticed through the entrance's door window that the hallway was getting further away. Kaden smiled and pressed another button. The circular couch split just opposite the door and under the window. Both halves moved around, closing the gap where the door was. A few seconds after the room stopped moving, the far side of the room vanished, leaving only the sky outside.

Both Alister and Sorana jumped back with surprise and grabbed hold of anything they could to prevent themselves from being sucked out of the gaping hole. Nothing fell out though, and the rushing wind couldn't be felt, but there was no denying that the second half of the room was gone. They looked at each other with mouths open then, in unison, turned to Kaden.

Kaden wore a small satisfied smile on his face as he relaxed in his seat. "Like it?" he asked, noting the look of confusion on his friends' faces. "This part of the train is called an observation suite. There's a few of them around the train and they're usually for reserved for VIPs. It allows the passengers to see the world passing underneath by turning the outer walls, floor, and ceiling invisible. It was locked for this trip since the train's mission was only picking up new students."

Alister's face transformed from a look of confusion to one of hysteria in a microsecond and he laughed, somewhat out of relief. "Leave it to Kaden to hack something in our new school before he's even arrived."

Kaden, being Kaden, had done research on the Sky Train before boarding it. He originally just planned to search the holo-net for information, but later decided that it was easier to hack into The Fastoon Transit and Spatial Displacement Authority's mainframe. It was here that he found the Quasar express' design blueprints and the information about the observation suites.

Alister's reaction was entertaining, but not what he really cared about. "So this is why you wanted to come to this compartment specifically." said Sorana with a disapproving voice. Kaden knew Sorana didn't like it when he broke rules, which was a shame since he was really good at it, but he felt this was worth it.

"Well?" Kaden asked again, still waiting on an answer to his question.

Sorana turned her head towards the missing half of the compartment and saw the entire landscape of Fastoon as if floating alone miles from its surface. "It's not a bad view." She said with attempted disinterest, but Kaden knew better. He had known her for as long as he could remember and no matter how much she disapproved of his hacking, she couldn't hide the beaming glow of awe in her eyes through which the landscape's vast beauty flowed. Plan successful, Kaden thought.

Alister looked over at Kaden who was watching Sorana. Alister looked at the blue sky and the planet beyond the invisible wall, then to the barely hidden joy on Sorana's face, then carefully back to Kaden. He shook his head with a smile to himself. There was only one thing Kaden cared about besides science and that was Sorana. For as long as he'd known him, Kaden had always done things like this for her and even in all this time Alister still wasn't sure if he was even aware of how much attention he gave her. He was sure Sorana was, but couldn't figure out if she was waiting for Kaden to realize it or if Kaden was just lost in the dark, endless void of the friend sector.

"What are you smiling at?" Kaden asked Alister after seeing him grinning to himself suspiciously.

"Nothing, nothing at all." was all Alister would say.

Kaden knew Alister was probably laughing about his relationship with Sorana as he usually did. She was his close friend, it was perfectly logical for him to do nice things for her. Kaden simply ignored him.

And so the trio enjoyed their train ride. They were taken all over Fastoon while picking up more students. The Quasar Express traveled to cities like Valmecha where huge gathering formed to welcome the train and large skyscrapers loomed overhead. During these stops a safety mechanism activated, pulling the observation compartment back into the train. Kaden would then activate it again as they left.

Sometimes the train would stop in the middle of nowhere, to small remote villages and farms where a single Lombax would get on.

At one point a team of chef-bots came moving down the train. Kaden, already aware of their schedule, retracted the compartment in time to be served lunch without suspicion. Their lunch was a variety of foods from all over Fastoon. It was only natural that a train made to traverse a planet would carry delicacies from all over.

Predictably Alister got Norig roast, which was a large domestic animal from the same continent as Valmecha. He stuffed the meat into his gluttonous cheeks seemingly without stopping to swallow the previous mouthful. His cheek fur was soon matted with the sweet sauce covering his meal. 'If you know what's good, why risk trying something bad?' was his motto apparently. Rarely did Kaden see Alister try different foods besides meat, and even then only the most common of them.

Sorana, also as predicted, wanted to try everything, but as the chef-bots became aggravated from her extraordinarily indecisive manner Kaden ordered for them both. He had also looked up the menu in his research and had already decided which meal they should get.

His plate was filled with the most appetizing looking things on the menu. Regardless of their real taste, their presentation made you want to try it for yourself. Sorana's meal was an assortment of the most unique tasting foods on Fastoon, the kind Kaden knew would make someone go...

"Oh! This is so unusual, but in a good way. You've got to try this." declared Sorana, excitement in her voice and pleasure on her lips.

"If you insist." Kaden replied, hiding the satisfaction from his face as he leaned over and opened his mouth to be fed one of the creamy looking spheres that Sorana had just eaten. In exchange Kaden would 'catch' Sorana eyeing his glistening food and offer it to her in the same manner.

Kaden made brief eye contact with Alister after having just fed Sorana a piece of flaky, pastry wrapped Verchim and saw him roll his eyes, smiling mockingly at him. Very subtly Alister stiffened and broke eye contact, returning to his food with sudden focus.

Kaden didn't know how he did it, but Alister always seemed to know when he was getting irritated with him. Kaden was always very careful not to let his anger show. Not because he was trying to hide his true feeling, but because he believed that overriding emotions like anger had no place in most situations. It was far more logical to get over his annoyances and forget about them then to brood over something that didn't really matter.

The three friends continued to enjoy their time together, talking about anything that came to mind, and often bickering about the value of art and weaponry in modern society. The latter part Kaden was rarely involved in but enjoyed watching thoroughly. The trip continued in this way for several hours.

Until it started getting dark, that is...


	2. Seeing Red

The _Quasar Express_ flew low over a large body of water. Because of the observation mode their compartment was in, the gradual decrease in light was very obvious to the three Lombaxes. They had already been to parts of Fastoon that were experiencing night, but this was different. The air almost seemed to suck the light from it as the train flew through steadily thickening cloud cover.

Fastoon was a very dry planet and most of its natural water supplies had been absorbed into modern Lombax infrastructure, so natural clouds were a little unusual to see. One of the few bodies of water left, as well as the largest, was the Northern Ocean, which the train was currently crossing.

"Where on Fastoon are we now?" Alister asked.

"Well we're obviously near The Blue Void." Sorana answered. She knew all about the geography of Fastoon and to her the fact that they were over water when it suddenly became dark made it obvious. She was slightly annoyed at Alister since it was basic information, though basic to her was advanced to most.

"Oh yeah, obviously," he replied, without a trace of understanding in his voice, but with the tiniest hint of fear. The only time Alister had ever heard of The Blue Void was in old Holo-films, usually featuring giant primordial monsters. "And uh, why would we be in The Blue Void? Isn't it Dangerous?!"

The Blue Void was an area of the Northern Ocean that contained the North Pole of Fastoon. Its borders were marked by the multi-spectral interference radiation the North Pole gave off, which made most electronics incapable of functioning. For this very reason few people venture into it and the mysterious nature of the area caused the myths about it to form.

"We're probably just passing through the edge of The Void." said Sorana dismissively.

Their compartment began to shake slightly. It wasn't unusual for a gigantic flying train moving faster than the speed of sound to vibrate a little. What was strange about it was that they could feel it. The entire train had momentum dampeners to remove even the slightest feeling of inertial change. They must have been malfunctioning. A second later the walls rematerialized and their compartment retracted.

"That's weird." Kaden wondered aloud. "The safety retraction engaged." This did not help Alister, who now looked like he expected the train to crash at any moment. Kaden tried to calm his friend's nerves, "We're probably just getting a little close to the Pole. We'll pass it in a moment. Besides, I'm sure the train could pass right over the heart of the Void if it wanted to, we might lose precise electronics but we won't fall out of the sky."

Kaden immediately regretted his good intentions because it appeared that the only thing Alister had heard was 'fall out of the sky'. Before Kaden could attempt to calm him down again there was a beep in his ear. It was his Nav unit alerting him that it no longer had a connection to the Lombax GPS, or the Galaxy Positioning System.

_Just how close to the poles are we going?_ Kaden wondered. A second later the lights went out and green emergency lights replaced them throughout the train. Bathed in an eerie green glow the friends sat frozen, as the sound of the train's repulsors, fighting to keep it airborne, could suddenly be heard very clearly.

"Stay in your compartments and keep calm!" screeched a harsh and static ridden voice over the train's intercom system. Kaden recognized it immediately as the same one that came from the Dean's hologram earlier. "If you're frightened by a little turbulence just wait until you receive some disciplinary correction and don't think it won't happen, I'll catch you all eventually. Anyone who is caught outside their compartment before I grant permission again will be the first to find out." And the tone cut out.

_This Dean,_ Kaden thought, _will definitely be a problem for me. _He turned to his friends and could clearly see that both of them were worried now. He had gotten over his initial uneasiness by logically concluding that there was nothing he could do about the situation, so worrying about it accomplished nothing. He looked at Sorana who was now staring fixedly at the dark clouds outside the window.

"You know," Kaden began comfortingly, "if it makes you feel any better we can sit closer together. It might be safer that way." Kaden knew it wouldn't be any help at all, but if he could get Sorana to believe that then she could at least calm down.

"Good idea!" came a reply along with the feeling of bodily contact from his other side. Kaden turned around so see a barely held together Alister Azimuth next to him on his seat. This shocked even him. "What happened to 'fear nothing'?" he demanded in shear astonishment at his friend's behavior.

"No," Alister corrected. "It's 'fear no one'. I can fight people and I can fight monsters, but I can't fight the planet!" While mentally debating whether to forcefully remove the cowardly Lombax from his side, Sorana suddenly spoke up.

"Look at this!" She said. Kaden left the terrified Alister sitting where he was and went over to see what Sorana was talking about.

Outside the window was the endlessly churning ocean that was The Blue Void. It stretched out as far as he could see, but now there were massive glaciers and icebergs below them. The mountains of ice continued to increase in size as the train moved on until they were over what appeared to be land. Soon the whole of their rapidly darkening view was filled with an endless wasteland of white snow and tundra.

This lasted only a short while however. Gradually, the pure white snow that landed on the window turned dark and became mixed with black flakes. To Kaden they appeared to be flakes of volcanic ash. The ice of the tundra below was also now pitch black.

"It's Magnaron!" Sorana said breathlessly. Kaden looked at her again and now realized that she wasn't afraid at all, she was excited. He understood why too, it was a very rare opportunity to see the Island of Magnoron and someone like Sorana, with her love of everything that existed naturally, would be overjoyed at the prospect.

Magnoron Island was a land mass that formed almost directly in the center of The Blue Void. It isn't covered much in basic education since very few people could even reach it. The Quasar Express was one of the largest sub-atmospheric craft on the planet and had the power to fight the tempests, but most personal craft would be swallowed up or at the very least lost, evidenced by how Kaden's Nav unit lost their location even though it works anywhere in the known galaxy.

The island was actually one of the most active volcanoes in the sector (excluding the ones on the nearby planet of Rykan V). Kaden found it Ironic that the hottest natural inferno on the surface of Fastoon was also located in its coldest temperate zone.

Pretty soon a deep orange glow crested the Horizon just ahead of them. Judging from the relative movement of the Tundra to the train Kaden saw that they were slowing down rapidly. He wondered if the train was planning on stopping or if the engines were failing, and if it was the former then what possible reason could it have for doing so.

Outside the blackened snow gave way to barren rock. Immediately after that they entered a wall of turbulent steam, formed from the titanic battle between the frozen wasteland and fiery volcanic inferno just beyond.

As the misty curtain pulled back from the window it revealed a nightmare landscape of jutting igneous rock. Molten rivers of lava flowed everywhere and pooled in massive pits. Some of the towers of rock, however, looked oddly shaped, almost unnaturally so.

"They're artificial constructs." Kaden said aloud as the realization hit him.

"Artificial?"Alister asked. He traded some of his fear for curiosity and joined Kaden and Sorana at the window. "You mean Lombax made? Why would anyone build stuff out here?"

"I don't know…mining or research perhaps?" Kaden offered in reply. As he spoke the train slowed to a halt. The momentum dampeners must have nearly failed, because he almost lost his balance and had to steady himself to prevent him and Alister from falling on Sorana.

The three of them looked out the window again. It was dark from the smoke and ash that covered the area, but they could just make out a bright glow that eminated from above the train. It had to have been the welcoming hologram of the Dean.

"That doesn't make any sense." Alister began with a tone of confusion. "If the hologram activated that would mean it was giving its welcome message to new students, but there's no way anyone could live out here. Especially not someone young enough to start at Nova…could they?"

The light soon disappeared and the train began to move again. As it sped up the three friends returned to their seats, each with their own thoughts. Sorana was the first to break the silence.

"It might be possible…" she paused and thought a bit more, "Maybe the new students that the train just picked up were… Red Lombaxes."

"Red Lombaxes!?" exclaimed Alister. "You've got to be kidding. Red Lombaxes aren't real." Sorana looked at Alister as if she was about to argue, but her expression faded and she didn't say anything.

Kaden was also confused as to why Sorana would make such a suggestion. Lombaxes came in all different colors naturally and there were also tons of options in the way of fur dye and genetic reconstruction, but what Sorana meant by 'Red Lombaxes' was something specific. She was talking about the mythical Lombax heroes that lived in the core of Fastoon.

Kaden gave Sorana the benefit of the doubt he thought about the situation as if the stories could be true. It made sense that 'the core of Fastoon' could be related to the heavily volcanic island of Magnoron. The island itself was almost as legendary and mythical as the Red Lombaxes after all. It also made sense that if there was one place where something could be hidden it was Magnoron and its radiation packed atmosphere.

The more Kaden thought about it the more it made sense, and at the same time the less it made sense. This was a rare moment for him, where logical thought failed and he couldn't figure out an answer just by thinking. So, he did something without logic,

"Let's go find out." he said before standing up and looking at his friends.

"I'm not leaving this room." Alister said flatly and without hesitation. It was clear which side had won between his curiosity and his fear. "I'm not dumb enough to leave a compartment, where if a crash occurred the designer would expect people to be in, so I can stand in the hallway, where if a crash occurred a designer would not expect people to be in." Kaden raised an eyebrow. That was the most thought he'd ever seen Alister put into planning his next move. His fear must have really had an effect on him. He tried to goad Alister into leaving by drawing attention to his cowardice, but Alister wouldn't budge. He then turned to Sorana.

"Don't be ridiculous," was her reply. "I know you don't think much of rules, but some of us actually listen when the Dean herself tells everyone to stay put"

Sorana's words were very true. Kaden thought nothing of the rules. For example, he had already completely forgotten about the announcement ordering the train's passengers to stay in their compartments. This was Kaden's biggest problem with authority. He didn't make any special efforts to break rules he just happened to take an interest in things that occasionally had rules against them. Once he had a desire to do something, little factors like rules and regulations no longer registered.

Kaden grabbed his bag and turned his back to his friends. "Fine then, I'll just go myself.", were his final words before he hit the panel next to the door and walked out into the green glow of the hallway. He hated not being able to solve a problem. When he couldn't he sometimes became single-mindedly obsessed with it until it was solved.

Kaden began his journey through the train carefully. With the lack of lighting, the train's current location, and the fact that being out of his compartment was breaking a direct order made it suddenly seem like a dangerous mission.

Kaden checked every compartment on his way towards the front of the train. He found new students in equal measures excited and terrified. One student noticed him through the green tinged darkness, but he disappeared from the compartment door window before they could get a clear look at him.

About halfway between where he had started and the train's lead engine, Kaden carefully peeked through the window of the next compartment. The moment his mind registered what was inside he caught his breath and dropped from the window, his heart pumping wildly. Inside the compartment was a Lombax couple that had apparently decided now was a perfect moment to display their deep affections for one another.

Kaden fought to rein in his thoughts and control his heart rate. Despite his fan base and popularity, he had virtually no experience with romance of any kind. It was the one thing in the entire universe Kaden had accepted that he'd never understand. The only girl he'd ever been close to was Sorana, but that was just because he'd known her since childhood.

Kaden shook himself of distracting thoughts and became angry at his own behavior. After all, there was no logic in things like love and romance and there was definitely no reason he should be affected by what he'd just seen. When his heart finally began to beat at a normal pace again he continued his journey through the train.

There were now only a few cars left to the train's lead engine and Kaden looked through the door window that separated his car from the next. He could see two Robot porters standing just on the other side. They were talking to each other, but Kaden couldn't hear it clearly. He opened his backpack and pulled out small vibration analyzer. He put it to the door and linked it to his neural computer. After adjusting for the doors interference he got a clear signal,

"…can say it all you want but I don't believe it. Nobody ever told me they came in that color."

"We've seen'em in all colors. Just last month we transported those three fellas that glowed neon green."

"That was because of the Gamma Radiation explosion on that research facility. I'm talking about natural colored ones."

"So? What's it matter if it's natural or not? Point is we see Lombaxes of all colors on here."

"Yeah, but this one's different. I felt a thermal drop in my circuitry when I tried to take their luggage, and didn't you just tell me your 3rd law protocol started running when they brushed past you?"

"Oh I'm sure it's just this darn radiation. It's a miracle we're even still functional. It knocked out the lights and wireless comms after all. We'll be out of the field soon, so everything should be fine. Besides, they didn't do anything that would constitute a threat. Just because they walked straight into car three's first compartment without saying a word, doesn't mean they're dangerous."

That was all Kaden needed to hear, he now knew what compartment he needed to head for, so he repacked his vibration analyzer and began to enact his plan to get past the two porters as they continued their conversation.

He pulled a portable fission cell out of his bag. These devices were one of his favorite inventions. They came in handy so many times that he couldn't keep track. He removed the cell's electromagnetic shielding plates and set the output as low as he could. He then used some stick-gel to attach it to the door so that the activation button was held down by the adjacent wall. After double-checking that the nearest compartment was empty he knocked on the car door and quickly slid into the unoccupied room.

A moment later the car door opened as the two Porters tried to find the source of the knocking. With the activation button released, a micro-nuclear reaction took place in the fission cell's core. In a nanosecond the reaction completed, but without its EM shielding, a pulse of electro-magnetic radiation blasted from the device, immobilizing the two robots.

Kaden ran from his compartment, grabbed his fission cell, and crawled between the first porter's legs before heading for the next car door. Just as he made it to the opposite end of the car, the two porters came back online. Luckily they began to argue about hearing things, so they didn't notice the door closing behind them.

Kaden had known that the EMP from his fission cell on its lowest setting could only disable positronic brains of that level for a few seconds, but any higher any higher and he risked doing damage to the porters' systems. Still he felt satisfaction at another well executed plan.

Kaden entered the second car; just beyond it was the first car followed by the engineering suite and main engine. He walked carefully up to the last compartment door and looked inside. The room was completely dark. Even the emergency lights were off. He couldn't see more than a few feet in with the light from the hallway though it seemed as if no one was in it.

The whoosh of a door sliding open hit his ears. He looked back the way he'd just come from to see the two porter-bots walking towards him, though they faced each other while still arguing.

Kaden quickly activated the compartment's door and hid inside, closing it just before the bots passed. With this door being much thinner than the car doors, he could hear the robots without a listening device,

"I don't think we need to do this now. We're almost to the academy. Let's just get a tune-up after."

"No. I'm getting this looked at before we start unloading all the passengers' luggage. First your safety protocol goes off on its own and then we both hear some random noises?"

"I told you it was just the radiation. You can feel it right? We're out of the interference zone. Everything will be fine now."

"Oh yah? Then what about my internal chronometer, it's 10 seconds slow now."

"I told you, your chronometer says the same thing mine does. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Well, my pocket watch says it's ten seconds slow."

"You're seriously going to trust that old pocket watch over our digital chronometers? There's probably more loose gears in that thing than your head."

They passed by without noticing anything. Kaden gave a sigh of relief and was about to leave when he heard a metallic scraping noise from the darkness behind him. He stared hard into to the black wall, but could see nothing.

"Is anyone there?" Kaden called out, but he received no response. He slowly reached into his bag searched for his illuminator. He finally wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it out facing the blackness ahead. He hit the activation icon and the light went on, spraying the whole room and he saw…nothing. The room was completely empty. Kaden scratched his head in confusion, he was sure he had heard something. _Had it been from outside_? He walked forward to the window. The electro shades were down so he raised them and looked outside. He saw noting that could identify the noise, so he supposed something must have hit the glass.

Kaden left the compartment and stood in the hallway with his hand on his chin. He was sure he'd heard the porters correctly. They had definitely been referring to the compartment he was standing in front of. Either the porter was mistaken or he was, but either way Kaden had not found his answer and that was equivalent to being wrong. _Oh well_, he thought, now he'd just have to continue searching the few rooms left like he had done up until now.

With a sudden, blinding flash the main lights came back on, replacing the eerie green with white clarity. Obviously that meant that the train engineers were able to fix the power issue. With any luck the ban on leaving his compartment would be lifted and he could walk leisurely back through the train without arousing suspicion. Before continuing his quest Kaden glanced back through the opened doorway of the compartment and nearly jumped across the aisle at what he saw.

Standing in the center of the room was a Lombax wearing a suit of red G-83 medium combat armor. The left chest plate was emblazoned with a grinning Lombax silhouette that had sharpened teeth and crossed OmniWrenches underneath.

The Lombax wore a large re-breathing mask that covered their mouth and cheeks. Their eyes were hidden behind red tinted miner's goggles. The only exposed fur on their body was the top of their head and ears. It was enough for Kaden to see its color though. A deep crimson run through with black stripes.

The expressionless face stared straight at him and he couldn't break its gaze. The red furred Lombax tilted its head slightly to one side before taking two steps forward; Kaden took two steps back without thinking. The armored Lombax raised its left arm to the wall and the doorway between them slid shut and its privacy lock engaged. Kaden could still see the mysterious Lombax through the door's window, but a second later the lights went out, leaving the same black depth he had seen just moments ago.

Kaden moved out of sight of the window and put his back against the nearest wall. His head was spinning as his reality was being rewritten. See, to Kaden understanding and knowledge was an absolute of life. He dedicated himself to understanding and knowing everything he could about everything there was and rarely came across something he couldn't comprehend. When he did however, his mind didn't take it very well. Almost all mental functions stopped as his mind re-evaluated every thought and rationale he had. Now that he was aware of a flaw in his logic, his mind went on a purge to ensure no more existed.

Kaden had walked into a small room and was absolutely sure that it was empty…but it wasn't empty. He had been wrong. Someone had been able to hide themselves from him in such a confined space. He was completely unaware of their presence and even now couldn't figure out how it was possible.

There was a tone over the train intercom and the Dean's voice spoke once more, "As much as I'd like to keep you walking endangerments to my school's reputation confined, I am officially lifting the ban on leaving your compartments. Though, I only do so because I worry about what happens when scared little Lombaxes don't have access to a restroom."

* * *

Kaden walked back through the train as if on autopilot. Here and there students were leaving their compartments or reentering them. Had Kaden been in a stable state of mind he would have appreciated the irony that he had just traversed this same hallway less than an hour before like a spy in a holo-film.

He arrived at his compartment with no interruptions. As he activated the door he assured himself that the only purpose of the icon he had just pressed was to open the compartment door and that no other consequences would result.

"Did you see it?" asked Alister immediately.

"See what?" was Kaden's blank, automatic reply.

"See what? What do you mean 'see what'? Were there any Red Lombaxes on the train?" Kaden recalled the cause of his current mental jarring and fell into his seat with a deep breath. "Well?" Alister tried again.

"Yah I saw one," Kaden said finally. Alister was immediately excited by the news, but it was Sorana who spoke next.

"You really saw one? How many were there? What did they look like?" Sorana was always interested in these kinds of things, obscure pieces of Lombax culture and such.

"There was one, I think." _Was there only one_? He had been unaware of even the one until he had left. His mind concluded that the capacity of the train was definitely a limit, minus the other lombaxes he saw so there couldn't be much more than a thousand onboard.

"Kaden, are you ok?" Kaden nodded and Sorana pressed again. "What did they look like?"

"Don't know. They had a breathing mask on and wore an old suit of G-83 armor."

"G-83?" repeated Alister. "That's a relic from The Great War. Why would anyone wear something like that?" Kaden recalled and re-verified everything he knew about full G-83 armor.

It was a medium class of armor that was designed for improved movement without sacrificing vital pieces of the standard G-82 heavy armor. Its design was air tight and meant to be worn in both the vacuum of space and hazardous environments. It had been manufactured during The Great War so it didn't have injectors for nano-tech or an uplink for modern neural computers.

It was also made before the strong-light composites that were used to protect high-risk body parts, I.E. the tail and ears, so they were folded into the armor instead. It was very uncomfortable, but it was better than getting them ripped or burnt off in an explosion. Even today the necessary materials to protect ears and tails were expensive. Most modern armor relied on nanotech to repair those areas rather than protect them. It was a bit grizzly, but much more economical to repair such small body parts here and there with nanotech then to wrap them in super expensive protective material.

"I don't know." concluded Kaden. He stared at the wall in shell-shock. "I don't know anything."

Those words coming from Kaden were a signal for Sorana and Alister not to pursue the subject. Instead they calmly sat in their seats and waited for the train to arrive at Nova Academy.


	3. The Legend

_Long ago, in the dark past of the Polaris Galaxy, there once existed an evil race known as the Cragmites. They would decimate entire planets, stripping them of their resources and cared nothing for the galaxy's other inhabitants. __ In their desire for destruction they formed a galaxy spanning empire and__ destroyed any who opposed them__._

_After witnessing the carnage the Cragmites were capable of, the Lombax race realized that this menace to Polaris must be stopped and took it upon themselves to fight its tyrannical rule._

_Their initial attack was the single greatest blow the Cragmites had ever felt. Conceited in their strength, they had stretched their forces thin and were unprepared for the technologically advanced Lombaxes to rebel against them with such power._

_The Cragmites soon regrouped and retaliated, focusing all their military might on the Lombaxes and abandoning many planets in the process. The two races fought on even ground for almost a century and the Great War became a stalemate._

_At on point in history, its exact date lost, the strength of the Lombaxes began to fade. Their forces had sustained heavy losses over the long war, as did their enemies, but the Cragmites were able to replenish their armies much more quickly. The war was slowly becoming one of attrition. _

_Even before the Great War had begun the Lombaxes had been searching desperately for ways to defeat the Cragmites. Eight of their race's greatest minds came together and developed a new weapon that would defeat their enemies once and for all, but it wasn't ready. T__he tide of the war was about to shift against them and their last hope was unusable._

_Fear gripped many and the war seemed lost when__ great heroes appeared to aid their fellow Lombaxes in the galaxy's darkest hour. Legend says that they came from Faston's very core and were born of their race's desire to defeat the Cragmites._

_Their fur was a fiery red and they fought with a skill the likes of which literally blew away the Cragmites. Like a wave a pure destruction they crashed into their enemies and lead their race to victory after victory, driving the Cragmites all the way back to their home system and then to their home planet of Reepor._

_However, the success the Lombaxes experienced did not last forever. The seemingly endless hordes of Cragmites had once again begun to wear down their enemies. Eventually, even the power of the Red Lombaxes lost its momentum and their advance faltered, but the Lombaxes had one last card to play__._

_With the time granted them by their crimson furred champions, the Scientist of Fastoon had finally completed their weapon and activated it over Reepor. In an instant the last of the Cragmites were wiped from the galaxy and the war was over._

_As if awakening from a bad dream, the inhabitants of Polaris slowly came realize that the Lombaxes had won and that they had all been freed from the terrifying grip of the Cragmites._

"But what did the weapon do mommy?" the little Lombax child asked her mother with wonder in her eyes. Her mother smiled down at the child wrapped in a blanket and eagerly listening to her story.

"It's a secret." she whispered. "Nobody knows what it did or how it works. The scientists that built the weapon kept it a secret to protect it from those who might misuse it." The tiny Lombax thought about her answer before asking another question.

"Then what about the Red Lombaxes? Where did they go?" she asked.

"Legend says that after the Cragmites were defeated, the Red Lombaxes went back to the core of Fastoon, where they sleep to this day, ready to return whenever the galaxy is in danger." Her mother answered.

"Is daddy a Red Lombax?" the child asked eagerly. Her mother closed her eyes and sighed.

"No, your father isn't a Red Lombax. He's just incapable of reading the labels on the fur dye he bought for Halloween." The small Lombax looked a little disappointed. Her mother bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "Now it's time for bed. Have sweet dreams ok?"

Her daughter nodded and closed her eyes as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. She walked down the hall to the living room where her red furred husband was reading a digi-pad on the couch. He looked up as she entered the room.

"How did it go?" he asked. His wife shook her head and sat down next to him.

"She's too young for us to start telling her stories of wars and Cragmites. I can't believe I had to explain to her what a Red Lombax was just because of your obsession with their ridiculous fairy tales." Her husband gasped in mock offense.

"They are not fairy tales, they are legends; and legends are based in reality." His wife fixed him with a glare of annoyance.

"You mean like that 'Crimson Reapers' holo-game you spend all your time playing." she criticized.

"Just because there are fictional works based on them doesn't mean they never existed." Her husband retaliated. "There are many historical mentions of Lombaxes with naturally red fur. They are what inspire things like 'The Crimson Reapers'."

"You are such an obsessed fan-boy." she said disapprovingly. Her husband grinned.

"Then that makes you the wife of an obsessed fan-boy." he replied smugly. "Besides I know you like the stories too."

His wife threw her arms up in concession. She knew better than to try to argue with her husband about his favorite kid's story (as pathetic as that sounded). She picked up her holo-book and a cup of tea, kept warm by its electronic heating mug, from the nearby table. She prepared to read from the highlighted letters of her digital bookmark when she realized that her husband hadn't returned to his digi-pad. She turned to face him again.

"What are you staring at?" she asked him as she took a sip of her tea. His grin broadened and his tail danced mischievously.

"I know you like the stories because you left the holo-movie 'Red Hot' on the Vid player's history last week." His wife spat her tea out in shock. She got some in her windpipe and coughed. "To think that you were an even bigger fan of Red Lombax mythology than me." he continued as she gasped for air. "Wait, is 'fan' the right word?"

His wife put down her holo-book and stood up. She tried hiding her embarrassed expression from view as she turned to leave, but her husband caught her gently by the shoulders.

"You know, since I happen to look like a Red Lombax, we should make the most of the situation." His grip on her shoulders became firmer.

"What are talking about?" she asked, now a mix of confused along with embarrassed.

"How about I tell you the legend of the Red Lombax assault on Mortyas Canyon?" he finished before softly kissing her neck.

A tingling sensation ran down her spine and through the rest of her body. "Stop it." she protested weakly. "Our daughter's in the other room."

Her husband slowly pulled her back to the couch...she didn't offer much resistance.

"Don't worry." he whispered. "It was a stealth operation."


	4. Nova Academy

The _Quasar Express_ pulled into a docking station on the side of a massive mountain top. The mountain itself, aptly named Mt. Super Nova, and the area surrounding its base were owned entirely by Nova Academy. Because of angle with which the train had approached the academy, Kaden and his friends had yet to see anything of it, but they were all brimming with excitement. Even Kaden, who had gotten over his previous system shock, couldn't keep his pulse quickening at the thought of arriving at the greatest school on the planet.

Time passed them in a kind of restrained hurry. They knew they couldn't rush, but each one of them wanted to see the academy as soon as possible. They exited the train into the sky station with nearly a thousand or so other students. The station was big. Not as big as the one in Valmecha, but much less worn.

A large Grav-track came up from floor and on it was the larger luggage that had been stored aboard the train. The bags were then piled onto grav-carts by lifter bots before being taken through a doorway at the far end of the station.

Monitor-bots hovered around, organizing students into lines of ten before sending them intermittently through the main entrance. Kaden, Alister, and Sorana stood in line with the others and waited for their turn to proceed. There wasn't much talking as everything was proceeding quickly and no one wanted to be responsible for holding up the process.

There was another reason for the silence though. What everyone clearly had on their mind was the heavily armored, red furred Lombax waiting in line two rows down from them. It was definitely unusual for everyone present to be seeing something out of legend standing in line like it was natural, but that only made sense. After all, this Lombax was a new student of the academy just like everyone else.

Kaden could see people trying to catch a glimpse without staring. It was especially awkward for him, considering what he went through for a glimpse of the unusual Lombax himself. He was still in the process of mentally repressing the whole event.

The Lombax in question looked straight ahead without moving a muscle. Kaden could see the visible signs of anxiety in the students standing immediately in front of and behind them and it made him want to laugh. The student in front clearly wanted to get a look at Lombax behind her, but knew that any attempt to do so would be extremely obvious. The student behind had the opposite problem. If they faced forward they looked straight at the Lombax, however the student, like everyone else, feared staring blatantly at them.

Kaden's line was ordered to proceed and they marched single file through the entrance into a large courtyard with a few benches and a fountain. In each of the other three walls was another doorway.

The one directly opposite them was a large double door which looked like a main entrance, but was now closed. Kaden assumed that it led directly to academy's main grounds and was probably always open during the rest of the year.

To their left was a closed, Raritanium reinforced door that took up most of the wall. The rest of the wall was made of black glass that pulsed every few seconds with a faint blue glow. _This must be security_, thought Kaden. On the other side of the glass were probably academy security guards watching them. The glass itself was also likely scanning them.

Finally to their right, where they were being directed by a Monitor-bot, was a small door that would be almost unnoticeable if it weren't open and had a line of students leading out of it.

Inside the door was a walkway next to a row of ten chairs. These were standard NID interface seats. Almost every Lombax on Fastoon received a neural computer, or NID for Neural Interface Device, when they reached adolescence. It was essentially a personal computer with a direct connection to the mind and senses. Kaden had done all kinds of customizations to his, like adding his Nav unit and tuning it to a data frequency only available to the Praetorian Guard, which happened to be illegal.

The first person in the line walked down to the first chair and each of the ten students sat in their corresponding seats. As they did, a neural connector arm came out and laid a small metal panel over the area where their neck met their shoulder. NIDs could be 'hard' accessed by sending electric and magnetic waves through the skin to its receiver, this way no one had to have a plug sticking out of their neck.

Kaden sat in one and the felt the antennae of the communicator touch his fur. Immediately he received a notification symbol in the corner of his peripheral vision that his NID was being accessed. He gave his permission with a thought and a holo-screen appeared in front of him. It asked to verify his permission, which he did, and a long list of questions replaced the screen, most of which were filled in automatically from his NID. There was also a progress bar at the bottom which represented the status of his security clearance uplink. This would allow him to access Nova academy's digital resources.

Kaden answered every question, which were mostly just agreements to the fact that he was aware of the school rules and that punishment would follow any breaking of them. This made him wonder though. In the past he had signed, and broken, many of these kinds of agreements, but they usually involved promising to follow the rules as well as acknowledging that he understood them. Strangely there was no such promise in these forms, just agreements that he was aware.

A final verification notice appeared that listed his field association. In Nova Academy there were three main fields of education: science, art, and military. Each of the three categories was a very broad cover of everything related to it. No matter what you chose you were still likely to take classes from the other Fields, you just had to pick where you were focusing your studies. Kaden's Field was science, something that was obvious for someone of his nature.

The security access bar filled to 100% and alerted Kaden that he now had access to entrances, terminals, and any information for his clearance level in Nova Academy. The NID connector antennae retracted and he rejoined his friends, who had also completed their NID registrations, near the exit.

As he met up with them and continued down the passage he was reminded of their Field choices. They too had obvious Fields: Alister was joining the Military Field while Sorana was joining the Art Field.

The trio continued down the tunnel towards an opening and stopped dead in their tracks. They stood on the edge of a wide plaza filled with Lombaxes. It was flanked by two buildings of similar size and plain design, like any normal Fastoonian school administration buildings. The plaza then split into three directions heading off to groups of buildings in the distance.

The walkway to the left began heading down in altitude slightly, to several building with simple architecture. They were all built around a massive stadium. There was also a shuttle dock off the side of the mountain to its left. Kaden knew this was the Military field's section of school grounds. Not just because it emphasized an arena and had military class spacecraft stationed at its docks, but also because there was a giant banner stretched above and across the pathway leading to it that read: 'This path is built with hard work, blood, sweat and tears, but mostly tears.'

At the end of the center path was an enormous tower that stretched straight up into the clouds, which wasn't far considering they were on a mountain, but was still impressive. It seemed to be made completely out of crystal and the architecture didn't look like it could stand properly on its own. Surrounding its base were buildings of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Clearly this was the Art Field's area. It boggled Kaden's mind as to why anyone would want to be surrounded by such randomness and lack of visible coordination. He'd never say this out loud though, especially when he looked to his side and saw Sorana's eyes brimming with awe and excitement as she stared at the strange buildings.

The third and final path led all the way to the right of the mountain and up a bit. This was obviously the Science Field. A circular building took up the focus of the view. It was made of reflective silver metal and glass. The top of it mushroomed out in a giant oval shape and was made mostly of clear material, like an observation area. Two more smaller, but identically mushroom shaped buildings came out of its side and connected to a square, but no less shiny building that matched the main one's size. This is where Kaden would spend most of the foreseeable future learning, designing, and building. Now it was his turn to stare in amazement. He stopped as soon as he realized how much of it he was doing, but turned to see Sorana smiling at him.

"Well," she declared, "it would seem there are things that can impress even Kaden."

Kaden returned her smile and shrugged before walking forward into the crowd. Most of the Lombaxes appeared to be new students. Here and there some were being greeted by current students that they must have known before coming to the academy. He could also easily tell which field the students belonged to.

Military students all wore some form of armor or military styled uniform. They also all carried some form of weapon, or at least he assumed they were all weapons. It was really hard to tell with some of them.

What was common about the attire for the Art students was that nothing they wore was common. They all, including boys, sported anything from dresses to suits to heavy jackets to whatever that student to Kaden's left was wearing. Some wore clothes stained with paint or mud and most of their hair styles hurt his eyes.

The Science Field students all wore some kind of gear. Many had goggles on their head or antennae coming from somewhere. A few even sported tiny robots that sat on their shoulders, hovered around them, or were attached to their backs. Kaden had heard that many Science Field Lombaxes from the academy took to carrying around robotic companions for aid with various tasks and calculations. He briefly wondered whether he should get one.

While Kaden was discussing the Academy with his friends, the same giant hologram from the train materialized in front of the paths to the three Fields. The dean looked down at them all with an irritated facial expression. All of the current students immediately went silent and turned to face her. Everyone else followed their example.

"This is Nova Academy." she boomed. "But more importantly, this is MY academy. You are all here because you're the best of your hometowns and cities, but here you're just average. I don't have time to explain everything to you, especially with the cost of running a fifty foot hologram, so I leave that to your fellow students in your respective Fields." She paused a moment to look at something out of the student's view before continuing,

"Contrary to popular belief there most certainly are stupid questions. To your right is the office where people highly trained and very well paid to be kind and supportive will answer your stupid questions. To your left is my office, if you see the inside of it you are probably either in very deep trouble, or are about to be for trespassing. There are several punishments that I keep on a dart board in my office as well as more specific-to-crime ones that I hope you all get the chance to learn about, but as per school tradition the first student to break a rule that is a class three offense or higher will be launched out of the Science Field's rapid velocity inducer. Now, proceed down the pathway to which ever Academy Field that you chose for your field of study. When you get there follow the instructions of the student that looks or acts like the most important one there." The hologram evaporated and left Kaden wondering how someone like Vasile Tor'doran became the dean of Nova Academy.

Him and his two friends stood together as everyone began moving to their designated walkways. They turned to each other to say farewell since each of them were going down a different path.

"Well then," Alister began. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Only if Kaden can stay away from that velocity-thing until then." Sorana said. Her tone that was mostly full of humor, but also contained just a touch of actual concern.

"Do you think so little of me, my dear Sorana?" Kaden replied with mock hurt in his voice. "I wouldn't dream of getting into trouble, or at the very least caught, at my new school before about a month." He finished with a grin. Both his friends stared at him with unconvinced expressions. Alister leaned over to whisper in Sorana's ear,

"Five bolts says he's shot out of the fancy cannon by tomorrow night." which caused a quickly stifled giggle from her. Sorana cleared her throat and stood up straight.

"And with that gentlemen, farewell." she said with a bow. She then set off towards the middle walkway and into the crowd.

Kaden and Alister shook hands followed by Alister throwing a stiff salute before walking towards the Military Field. After one last glance toward the other two fields Kaden likewise turned and walked down the path to Science Field.

Kaden marched calmly alongside his new classmates. The closer he got, the more details he could see. From his current position he could now see that the two main buildings were not the majority of the Science Field's property. Down the side of the mountain were similarly designed windows and walls that told him the mountain itself was probably hollowed out and that there was no telling how much more space there was.

The walk was finished in what felt like a short time and Kaden soon found himself in a much smaller plaza that led to the entrances of both the square and round buildings he'd seen earlier. One Lombax was standing in the middle of the plaza with many more behind him. He wore a large white coat and had a small round robot, with no visible appendages, floating above his right shoulder. As soon as everyone was assembled with no one left on the walkway the Lombax in the center began to speak.

"My name is Varick Adjunaris. I am the president of the Science Field and I'd like to be the first, as I'm sure our beloved Dean Tor'doran has not, to officially welcome you to Nova Academy, and more specifically, to the Science Field. As some of you know, Nova Academy has a much more complex system than most other schools. To help you adjust quickly you will each receive a 'mentor' who is your elder. They will show you around and answer your questions for the rest of the semester, so rely on them for first hand information and try to learn as much about your new home as you possibly can. Some of you have already met your elders." He paused with a nod that was clearly directed at the elder students already in the group. "I leave the rest to them and you may go on ahead. As for the rest of you, I will read your name and you will step forward to meet your mentor."

As soon as Varick stopped talking the elder students in the crowd headed towards the square building to their right. Each one had a new student in tow. Kaden and a couple hundred others remained. Varick reached out a hand as if holding something, at this motion his floating robot hovered down to it and projected a holo-graphic screen that Varick used like it was a digi-pad. He then called out each Lombax's name one at a time as he read them off the holo-display. When they walked forward a student from behind Varick would also walk forward and greet them. They would then both move to the square building like the others.

Eventually everyone was gone besides Kaden and Varick. This left Kaden confused for a second. Varick placed his arms at his sides and walked forward. As he did the hologram disappeared and his robot floated back to its place above his right shoulder. When he was next to Kaden he stopped and outstretched his hand.

"You must be Kaden, correct?" Varick asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am." Kaden answered simply while shaking his hand.

Now that Kaden could see Varick up close he realized something, Varick was extremely handsome. It felt odd to make a note of something so superficial, but he knew the word fit. Kaden himself was considered attractive by many at his old school, this alone was the cause of at least one fan club, but Varick was on another level. He was tall for a Lombax and his fur was evenly kept and symmetrical, but most impressive was the vibe he gave off. Kaden didn't like to judge people the moment he met them, but he knew from the way Varick moved, spoke and smiled that he was born to carry authority or at least learned how to do it well.

"As I'm sure you've guessed I will be your mentor." said Varick. "I expect great things from you, which is why I paid so many bolts for the opportunity."

"Bolts?" was the first thing Kaden asked. He was confused as to what Varick meant. Varick thought for a moment.

"Hmmm, let's start a little further back shall we? Nova Academy is a school meant to turn a student with the best potential there is into the best Lombax there is. To do this the elders have found that making the academy mimic real life challenges offered the best learning results. Like the saying goes the galaxy is the best teacher." Varick paused to let Kaden think for a bit.

Kaden had known this much about the academy due to his research on it (and by 'research' he means read the brochure). There was surprisingly little information on the holo-net about the details of life at Nova Academy. Varick continued his explination,

"Everything in the school will cost you bolts and there are no rules on how to get them that you wouldn't find outside of the school. You likely have an allowance from your parents, but if you find yourself completely broke, the academy will not let you starve; this is the difference between Nova and the real world. The primary way most students receives bolts is to do jobs for the academy, though you won't have that option as a fuzzy."

"What's a fuzzy?" interrupted Kaden. Varick laughed a bit.

"I'm sorry. A 'fuzzy' is academy slang for a new student at Nova. Its origin derives from when people describe a new born baby, meaning that you are like a newborn baby to the rest of us." Kaden didn't like how Varick grinned and looked him straight in the eye as he said 'you'. Varick's expression faded slightly. Kaden almost didn't notice it, but before he could look closer Varick cleared his throat and continued,

"Every year the schools get's a fresh crop of students from all over Fastoon. There are relatively few full time instructors here. Many of the teaching positions are taken by elder students, so there aren't enough staff to be tasked with babysitting new ones. Like everything else, the school solves this problem by throwing bolts at it, so to speak. Current students are paid a small fee to become a mentor during the beginning of fuzzy season, ehem, I mean the new school term."

"Ok," said Kaden inquiringly, "but you said you PAID to be my mentor?" Again Varick smiled.

"Yes, ever since the tradition of mentoring has been around there has been a student tradition of bidding for students who show the most potential and would probably be a good ally during their time at Nova. And just let me say this, buying the mentor rights to The Great Kaden of Valmecha's 2nd district cost me quite a bit." Kaden was both shocked and, if he was honest, pleased at the notion of being fought over for the right to teach him.

"What is it that makes you so sure I'm worth the time and the bolts?" Kaden asked with a sudden suspicion at the handsome Lombax's attention. Varick smiled again, but this one was full of humor.

"Of course with every prospective student that needs a mentor comes more than enough information to look them up on the holo-net, and there is plenty of information about you out there. Especially on net page from, if I recall correctly, the 'Keeping an Eye on Kaden Club: What Kaden is Doing Now'." Kaden rolled his eyes and groaned.

The K.E.K. club had been a very, let's say devoted, club that wanted to catalogue Kaden's life while he was still living it. They also happened to know more about his ability to design home security systems than anyone else. At the sight of Kaden's reaction to the name Varick laughed with genuine amusement.

"There was more than enough evidence for me, and several others, to know that you would be making a few waves here at Nova. Waves of all kinds I'm sure, so let me be clear now, Dean Tor'doran is dead serious about the Velocity Inducer, but don't worry, the security team hasn't failed to catch a student yet." That didn't make Kaden feel much better. "Anyway, you've already proven my suspicions right." He continued, now wearing a mischievous grin. Kaden didn't think he liked that smile. He raised an eyebrow quizzically and Varick leaned in close to him. "Hacking the Observation Suite huh? I can't remember the last time a fuzzy even knew they existed." Kaden caught his breath.

"Does the Dean know?" he asked, suddenly realizing how close in proximity these words were to Varick's previous warning about the punishment. Varick's smile brightened even more, which surprised Kaden that it could.

"I never assume the Dean doesn't know about something, that's a sure way to lose some fur. If she was planning on punishing you for it though, you would have known before you made it three steps off the train. I know about your activities because I hacked the trains monitoring system. I like to keep tabs on my investments you see. You learn all kinds of interesting things when you're observant. By the way, who is that attractive young girl you seemed so interested in on the way here?" Now Kaden was annoyed. He didn't like having someone standing over him so obviously, both metaphorical and literally. Varick's expression faded and returned with a twitch again.

"Interesting." he said.

"What is?" asked Kaden with the hint of a growl.

"Why, you of course!" exclaimed Varick, suddenly cheerful. "Oh, this going to be a fun year." He turned and began walking to the square shaped building. Stopping halfway there he turned and called back to Kaden, "Come on, don't stand there with your tail nailed to the ground, we've got to get you settled in."

Kaden followed Varick to the building. All the while still trying to decide if he liked him or not.


	5. The Science Field

Kaden followed Varick through one of the several doorways to the square building. Each one had a set of energy barriers instead of physical doors. The barriers prevented things like heat and dirt from passing through while still allowing students to cross. As he passed through the first one the second one shifted green and a computerized voice welcomed him by name to the Science Field Living Quarters.

Kaden passed the second barrier and found himself in an expansive lounge area. Seats and chairs filled most of the floor space, large holo-monitors displayed various stations, and vending machines were placed strategically about. Here and there students were reading holo-books or typing on digi-pads. Varick walked through it and exchanged waves with a few other students as Kaden followed. When they walked in front of a row of wall sized Holo-screens Varick stopped to explain their purpose.

"These are 'The Lists'." he began. "They are controlled by the 'Solar Flare', which is our school's own news service. It's run by students studying media in the Art Field, but that's pretty basic for a school. They show various things from student rankings and accomplishments to academy events and sports results. I'm sure your name will be up here eventually. Whether for good or bad, I'm curious to find out." Kaden had the feeling he should be mad about Varicks last comment, but he had been thinking the same thing. Varick turned down a hallway and into a large Cafeteria.

"This is the main Eating Hall." he said when Kaden entered behind him. "The name explains itself I hope. If you want something that isn't on the menu you can make a special order for it, but you'll have to wait for the kitchen staff to make another supply order if they don't have the ingredients in stock. Of course they always feel like making a supply order a lot sooner for a few extra bolts." Varick explained with wink.

The cafeteria looked normal, other than how vast the space was. Kaden could see from the stairs that it had more than one floor. If the next floor up was as big as this one he was sure thousands of Lombaxes could eat comfortably inside. Varick barely gave Kaden time to take it in however. He turned before heading down another hallway.

After a short walk they stopped at a row of grav-lifts. Varick waved his hand over a panel in the wall and a holo-screen appeared. Floor numbers with short descriptions were listed on it and Kaden was surprised to see that there were over a hundred of them. He'd never have guessed that the facility was so extensive.

"What am I doing?" Varick said suddenly in self reproach. "It's much more efficient if you learn the academy's systems by engaging them directly. Here, give it a go." Varick stepped away from the panel, causing the holo-screen to disappear.

Kaden copied Varick's actions and waved his own hand over the panel. The holo-screen reappeared, but it was different. It only showed just over a dozen floors. If he hadn't just seen Varick's screen, he would've never known there were more. Confused, he turned to Varick to ask, but his mentor answered the question before he got the chance.

"Your academy level is currently one. As such you only have access to the most basic of school facilities, though some students, like me, can give you temporary access, if necessary. Since even you can access the level we're heading to there's no problem."

Varick indicated the floor he wanted to go to for Kaden to select. Its description said that it was the first level of a shopping area. He pressed its icon and his name flashed across the screen before being replaced by a chronometer and grav-lift indicator. It read '0:00:32 Lift: 3' and began counting down until the time hit zero and the doors on the lift marked '3' opened. The two of them entered and an almost identical screen appeared inside. It read Kaden's name and listed Varick as a companion with the time until arrival displayed.

"If this is just the living quarters does that mean there's even more in the main building?" asked Kaden as the lift descended. Varick shook his head.

"The differenence between the two buildings is only above and slightly below the surface, after the about the 8th floor down the two buildings merge into one complex. There are even levels that connect across multiple Fields."

The lift doors opened and Kaden walked out into what looked exactly like an average shopping mall in Valmecha. A large sign listed names and specialties of what Kaden had to guess were stores within, though he had yet to digest the fact that there was a mall under his school dormitory.

"This…is the Science Field's 'Supply Depot!'" began Varick, raising his arms and clearly displaying his affection for the area. "Here you will find everything you might need during you new life at the academy. The top floor is for more basic supplies, like foods and clothing. The next floor down is for vanity. Mostly entertainment things like wide display holo-panels and furniture. The lower you go, the more unique and specialized the items get. As a Fuzzy you can't even access the fifth floor, but I give you my word, what's down there is awesome!"

"Hold on," Kaden interrupted. Varick halted his bravados explanation and lowered his arms to look back at him. "There is a mall under the dormitory?" Varick shook his head in mild disappointment.

"Come now Kaden, have more of an open mind. We all live in a mountain, miles from any form of technologically advanced civilization. Of course there's a mall here. There's one in each of the other Fields as well; though the Military Field calls theirs 'The Armoury' and the Art Field changes the name of theirs on a whim. I think they call it the 'Bazaar' for now. "

Kaden nodded in acceptance and walked ahead into the main area. All around him were vendors, manned mostly by androids.

"Does the academy operate all of this?" Kaden asked.

"Nope." Varick declared with a pride. "Every store here is owned and operated by at least one Lombax at the Academy. Any of the quality stores are run by high level business students, but there are no rules about who can do what, so long as they have the bolts to rent the floor space." Kaden was starting to get the impression that everything here ran on bolts.

The two of them toured the mall long enough for Kaden to get a good understanding of its layout. Varick pointed out specific stores he liked and talked about a few of the owners that he knew personally, though by the end Kaden got the feeling Varick knew everyone personally. They stopped to have something to eat at the food court.

"So, what's on the lower levels?" asked Kaden between mouthfuls of his Norig burger with two layers of bacon and extra cheese.

His eating habits were a pet peeve of Sorana's. Kaden had briefly worried that living at the same school would mean that she'd finally make good on her promise to force a healthy diet on him, but after seeing the vastness of Nova Academy so far he was feeling much safer.

"Like I said before, it's all specialty items down there." replied Varick as he sipped his smoothie. "If you need something like materials for an experiment, that's where you'd go. If they don't have it in stock there'll definitely be someone who can get if for you. At least so long…"

"…as you have the bolts." said Kaden, finishing Varick's sentence for him.

"Good." said Varick without a drop of missing enthusiasm. "Then you've already learned the second law of Nova Academy."

"Second? What was the first?" asked Kaden. Varick looked at his smoothie and didn't reply at first.

"Don't ever cross Dean Tor'doran." he said finally. "But you'll learn that on your own soon enough I'm sure." Varick said, snapping back to his cheerful mood and looking at a large chronometer on the wall. "Come on. We've still got to get you a room. I'm sure the line for room purchasing has dwindled by now, so back to the first floor we go."

They disposed of their garbage by tossing it to the center of the court, where it was caught by the gravity well of an artificial black hole in the floor. They then headed back to the grav-lifts. Again Kaden worked the controls and selected the level that read: 'Main Lobby'. A few minutes later the lift doors opened to a familiarly extensive hallway.

They continued back into and then out of the lounge area again before Varick stopped at a random doorway that had a red neon outline. Varick explained to Kaden how every year all the elders and their fuzzies formed a massive line just after being introduced and entering the science building. He also mentioned that he never understood why they all rushed to it at the same time. Kaden was grateful for Varick's insight since he hated waiting, especially in a line. The doorway opened and a pair of Lombaxes left. They were clearly a new student with their elder mentor.

Varick walked into the now empty room followed by Kaden. The room's inside was square with white walls that were crossed by lines parallel and perpendicular to the floor. Kaden immediately recognized the pattern and material of the room.

Varick shut the door behind them and tapped various icons on a holo-screen coming out of the wall. Immediately after, the room started to shimmer with various colored lights before reconstituting into a holographic representation of a small bedroom.

"This is where you choose and purchase living spaces and workshops, but the second part you won't have to worry about for awhile." explained Varick. "There are dozens of options for all kinds of situations. I call this one 'The Impoverished Loner'. It's the cheapest single room available."

Kaden looked around. It was very small and the only furniture was a one-person sleeping pod and a single desk. To Kaden it looked good. He was quite comfortable in small spaces, he'd only ever use the room to sleep or read in so what did he care if it was no more than a bed in a closet?

Just to be sure he flipped through all the cheapest rooms, but ended up picking the 'Impoverished Loner' anyway. The only option that was more economical was to get a roommate and Kaden didn't really want that. He wondered if Varick had known which room he'd pick and came up with the name solely to annoy him, because it worked.

Kaden finished selecting and purchasing the room and started to leave when Varick held back to type a few more things into the holo-panel on the wall. Kaden waited for him to exit and then followed him again.

He then took Kaden all around the rest of the building. Here and there they could see similar elder-fuzzy activities being performed. Kaden was shown the virtual library hub, more lounge and eating areas, various communal bathrooms, small exercise rooms, a medical suite, and the tele-porter hub.

Varick also explained the dorm rules, which were very ordinary. No noise after a certain hour, no tele-porter activity after the same hour, no artificial quantum singularities without a permit, no molecular ionization of the atmosphere indoors, no mixed gender roommates, etc. All of it was pretty standard for a school living quarters. That was until they reached Varick's room.

They both rode the grav-lifts to the top of the living quarters building and walked out into a long hallway with a few doors widely spread out. Varick stopped at the third one down and held up his hand. The door pulsed with green light a few times before beeping and sliding open. Kaden was told to come in and make himself comfortable.

The inside of the room was like something you'd see in a luxury Hotel. It had a full kitchen, living room, a separate bedroom, and its own bathroom (with Jacuzzi). Plus there was an amazing view off the edge of the mountain. Kaden could hardly believe this room existed for a student.

"Like it?" asked Varick from the Kitchen. "Nova Academy makes sure that being the best of the best is well rewarded." This sentence was finished with a self-satisfied smile from the president.

"You said there were very few rules about how to get bolts right?" asked Kaden with a specific thought in mind.

"Yes I did, and I know what you're thinking. It's half true I guess." Varick answered as he pulled a jug from his refrigeration unit and placed it on a cooking station. After typing in a number on the station's panel he brought it to the table that Kaden was sitting at.

"No, getting bolts off your parents is not against school rules. Yes, I do come from a very wealthy family. No, my parents' money did not buy me this room. I earned my home and title of president with my own hard work and dedication. I can't take all the credit though, since I did live out my time as a Fuzzy on my parent's wallet." Kaden hadn't expected Varick to be a hard worker. Perhaps it was because of the politician feel he got from him.

"So how exactly does the 'level' system work?" Kaden asked, changing the subject. Varick sat down as his tiny robot appeared with two cups and laid them on the table. Varick poured steaming blue liquid into each cup and passed one to Kaden.

"There are ten levels in the academy's grading system. They're like any ordinary school's grading levels except they're not dependent on age or years of attendance. You simply have to prove that you're worthy of being awarded a higher level based on your Field. Essentially you either get all your instructors to give you their consent or get the Dean to like you. My advice is to assume that latter is impossible." Kaden finished his cup of sweet tasting liquid and accepted Varick's offer for more.

"So you graduate when you become level ten or after you pass it?" Kaden asked. Varick laughed a little.

"Nobody ever graduates from Nova Academy. You simply reach the limits of your ability to level up." answered Verick somewhat somberly. "Only a few Lombaxes in history have ever made it to level ten. Most level nine, eight and even level seven students have moved on from Nova. They now live their lives as Lombax elites in most cases. You never lose your privileges from Nova and you can come back to study at any point in your life. Most of the elder students choose to go to branch schools though. The academy even has some on other planets. Think of Nova as a school that gradually becomes a community of the extremely skilled and intelligent."

"So can you stay at any level as long as you like?" was Kaden's next question. Varick thought about the answer for a moment.

"Well, it's very rare that a student wouldn't be able to proceed through the lower levels, but it has happened. Usually if a student is of a low level and they show no sign of improvement the current Dean of the school will expel them. It's not as harsh as it sounds though. You get warnings in advance and if you still can't improve then you simply lose the right to use academy resources, but I doesn't happen very often."

"What level are you?"

"I am a level eight. I've been one for nearly two years now. My goal is become a level ten, but every level is exponentially harder to achieve than the last. Not that I'm complaining though. My current position is in no way unsatisfactory." Kaden took another look around the luxurious room and he had to agree.

"So then, what are these 'privileges' that come with the levels?"

"Oh they vary from Field to Field and from year to year. There are even some that you're only allowed to know about once you've reached the level required, a few level eight privileges for example." Varick winked at him. "The biggest example of how privileges change is how you get to learn. As a fuzzy you're essentially restricted to a normal school life dedicated to lessons and exams. As you increase your level you gain more options."

Varick reached to the center of the table and waved his hand. A screen appeared under the glass and he scrolled through the page of icons pressing one after another. When he finished a Holographic folder appeared floating above the middle of the table. He reached for it and then tossed it to Kaden. The folder glided through the air and stopped just in front of him.

Kaden opened it and looked at the holo-pages inside. He read through it and found that it was a record of a contract to design and build a research facility on planet Kortog, with Varick listed as one of its architects. Kaden looked up at Varick who began to speak after seeing he'd finished reading.

"That was one of the first assignments I accepted after rising to level four. It was a little menial to be honest. The hall of knowledge is surrounded by research facilities so there was already a standard." Varick stared off as he recalled the memory. "Of course no Lombax worth his stripes would make anything 'standard'. I even laser carved my name in the final girder placed on the frame." Varick grinned at the thought. Kaden dropped the folder and it pixilated away before Varick continued.

"Nova academy grants its students the ability to go out into the galaxy and get real life experience in their field, which it uses to grade you as much as if you simply went to class. While the experience and academic credits are nice, the best part of doing this kind of work is the bolts. Anyone can commission the school for almost any kind of contract. They pay the student's well and a percentage goes to the Academy. Nova gets offers mostly from the Fastoonian government and private Lombax corporations, but there are plenty of extra-planetary contractors who'd like a little Lombax strength and ingenuity on their side." Varick said with satisfaction.

"You mean people pay to have inexperienced students work for them?" asked Kaden.

"Remember that Nova Academy requires students to be above average just to enter. A student contracted here is likely to be just as skilled as a professional anywhere else, just without firsthand experience. It's also likely to be cheaper for a company to employ temporary Nova students than to keep their own standing faculty. Students can choose to accept any number of contracts from a long list. Here, have a look." Varick returned to tapping icons on the table-screen before sliding the screen over to Kaden with a flick of his hand.

The screen displayed several rows of contract categories organized by Field association. Kaden opened a random list for the Military Field and read the first one. It was titled 'Merchant Fleet Escort' with a picture of a typical Markazian merchant ship underneath. The description below explained that its owner wanted to hire Lombax soldiers to defend their ship while on cargo runs in the nearby Vorex Nebula. It also contained contract details about the length of the journeys and the pay. The soldiers got paid a small sum for standing guard and huge reward if the vessel was attacked and protected properly. When he finished reading the contract description Varick explained the application process.

"As a student you simply make a request for permission to take on one of the contracts listed there and academy officials review and approve you for it. That being said, level two and three student's can only accept a contract if they are specifically requested by the employer and level one students can't accept contracts period. Keep in mind that any student that Nova grants permission to will then represent the academy itself by their performance, so students are judged harshly."

"So I have to wait until I'm a level four and then I can go on any of these jobs?" Kaden asked. He liked the sound of the whole 'contract education' concept. This way he'd be able to do almost anything he wanted and still get school credits for it.

"So long as you're approved by the academy you can, but you won't have to wait until you're a level four though. You'll receive plenty of jobs from the Science Field when you're a level two, I'll make sure of that." Varick said happily. "However, I can see by your class requests that you're seeking proficiency in the Military Filed as well. If you want to receive a contract from the Military Field you'll have to prove yourself in the tournament and make your name known." Kaden furrowed his brow and looked confusingly at Varick.

"What tournament?" he asked. Varick looked up with an expression of suddenly remembering something.

"Of course." he said. "I knew I was forgetting something. Every year Nova Academy hosts a tournament to test the mettle of the new fuzzies and re-evaluate the low level students. Varick repeated the process of retrieving a holo-document and once again tossed it to Kaden.

"These are the official rules and dates of the tournament. All students level one and two who are enrolled in at least one Military Field class can choose to join. You'll be pitted against your fellow students in an open field combat zone and be rewarded for your success. Literally you're paid bolts for beating your opponents." Kaden looked at the holo-file then looked back up at Varick.

"But I've only just started here. The academy makes brand new students fight current students just after arriving?" Kaden had expected to fight at some point in the year, it was the Military Field after all, but nowhere near this soon.

"Yes, there have been a few concerns about it in the past, but the tournament tradition stands firm. It has proven to be the best way of showing the elders your abilities first hand." Varick paused and the corners of his mouth bent a little. "That…and it serves to knock new students down a peg or two. To get accepted into Nova a student must be exceptionally skilled and this usually means they're exceptionally arrogant as well. In most cases this happens because no one in their community is at their skill level. An all out free-for-all battle against Lombaxes of equal or greater skill usually puts a stop to that kind of nonsense as effectively as a colorless defense shield stops a speeding hoverbiker."

Kaden pushed the holo-file of the tournament into his chest and it vaporized. Each dot of light winked out of existence in quick succession as the file was downloaded to his NID.

"That's most of the basics I think." Varick started again. "Do you have any other questions?"

Kaden thought about it for a second. There was one thing that had weighted on his mind for awhile.

"Why is there a Red Lombax attending Nova?" Kaden asked. Varick had an expression that said this was probably the one subject he didn't want to answer.

"Kor Vol'terran." Varick said after some thought. "That is the name of Nova's Academy's own living legend. From what I've been told, he's the son of the Red Lombax's leader. He's also somewhat of a special case, but the Dean wouldn't elaborate further. To be honest I was probably as surprised as you when the Dean first told the three heads of the Fields about a Red Lombax joining us. Until then I had thought they were just an old story that's circulated around for too many generations." Varick paused and thought about his words.

"I'm not even sure I'm allowed to tell you this, but the Dean never said we couldn't so here it goes. The Red Lombaxes live on the island of Magnaron, where the harsh environment has hardened them into some extremely tough warriors. Apparently they were discovered shortly before the Great War by some project that wanted to harvest the interference-radiation stumbled upon them. Due to their skill, a new project was born with the hope of militarizing them and training them to fight with the modern weapons of the era. As far as the legend is concerned it worked. The Red Lombaxes were a key part in the victory over the Cragmites, but for some reason that the Dean wouldn't explain, after the war the Red Lombaxes returned to their island and shunned outside contact. In honor of their accomplishments and their wishes the leaders of the time kept their existence officially a secret."

This was a lot for Kaden to take in. Until now he'd half thought that the Red Lombax he'd seen earlier was just some sort of joke. Now he essentially just learned that his childhood heroes were real. At least the idea, he seriously doubted The Crimson Commander from the holo-show he loved as a kid was real. Unless he was!

Kaden shook useless thought from his head and asked another question, "I'm surprised anyone can live on Magnaron. The Quasar express had trouble just picking up a single person from there." Varick nodded a few times at Kaden's words.

"It hasn't come without its costs. The Dean has informed us, me and the other two heads, that Kor will be granted permission to where his armor at all times. After all the years of evolution on Magnaron, the Red Lombax people have an extreme sensitivity to light so Kor will have to wear eye protection from normal light. Probably worse though, is that their race has also suffered diminished lung function as a result of the toxic environment. As such, Kor can't even breath the air like a normal Lombax. It's a little sad really." Kaden took a moment to digest that information. It explained why Kor had continued to wear his goggles and mask even after getting off the train.

"But why is a Red Lombax coming out now? And why Nova Academy?"

"Ever since Nova Academy was founded it's had an open invitation for any Red Lombax student to join as a way of reaching out to an isolated culture of Lombaxes. For Mr. Vol'terran's 'special case' they've finally taken the offer. Unfortunately that's all I know so let's end this subject. Now, anything about the academy to ask?"

Kaden and Varick continued their conversation about other topics for some time until Varick's robot buzzed and showed him something on a holo-screen.

"Well it's that time already." said Varick after reading the holo-screen. "I have an appointment with some friends soon, so I guess we'll end there for now." Varick stood up and Kaden followed suit. "Look over those rules and make plans now. The tournament is in a couple of weeks. I'll come see you tomorrow for your first official day at Nova, so you're free until then. I trust you can find your way back to your room?" Kaden noded and walked to the door. He left after shaking Varick's hand and biding him a farewell.

As Kaden waited for the grav-lift to arrive he mentally mapped the course he would take to his room. Varick had told him that all of his luggage should have been moved there by now. Kaden planned on getting unpacked quickly and then getting a good night's sleep, though he knew he'd be up all night going through every file in the Nova Academy's database that he'd been given access to.

As the lift door opened it revealed two other Lombaxes standing on the platform. The one on Kaden's left was a very large, tan furred Lombax with dark brown stripes. He had large golden eyes that spoke of more intelligence than his muscles would suggest. He wore combat armor and definitely belonged to the Military Field. The other was a tall, brown furred Lombax. Her eyes were orange, but that wasn't a natural color; she must have done something to alter them. She wore a white dress and so much jewelry of so many odd shapes and sizes that it made Kaden's eyes hurt. That feeling of illogical confusion told him that she was from the Art Field.

They both ignored Kaden and brushed past him towards Varick's door. The large Lombax waved his hand over the holo-lock pad, which activated the door bell. The door opened and Varick welcomed them in. Kaden entered the grav-lift, keyed in his destination, and didn't give it another thought.


	6. Start of the Term

"Are you sure?" Kaden whispered gently in Sorana's ear as he held her hand and slid closer to her on the seat.

Sorana raised her head and looked into Kaden's eyes, but said nothing. She didn't have to. It was just the two of them sitting together on the _Quasar Express_. They had been viewing the scenery together, but now the only thing they could see was each other.

Sorana leaned closer to him and Kaden brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and left his hand on the back of her head. They both closed their eyes and leaned even closer, so close that Kaden could feel her breath. As he tilted his head forward an inch more, he felt Sorana pull away. He opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concern. Sorana opened her mouth to speak and from it came the wail of a barge horn that split his eardrums!

Kaden slammed his face into the side of his sleeping capsule before rolling back into his bed. His head spun from the sudden jolt and he looked up through half-closed eyes at the smirking white Lombax standing in his doorway. They was holding an object that was the source of the loud wailing noise. Kaden's situation became clear to him. He relaxed his tensed muscles slowly and shut his eyes again.

Kaden had the strong feeling that he had been having a very good dream. He tried to recall what it was about, but try as he might the blurry image in his mind melted away and was gone. Giving up on recalling it, he refocused his attention on the reason he lost it.

"You know Varick," Kaden began without opening his eyes, "if you want me to be your 'ally' in the future, it would probably be best to avoid doing things that would make me your enemy." Varick let go of the metal orb in his hand. It stopped mid-air and withdrew its sonic emitter. It then hovered back up to stop just above Varick's right shoulder.

"Of course!" replied Varick with a tone that implied he was thoroughly enjoying his morning. "Then, what about this action?" Varick hit an icon on the touch panel in the wall and Kaden's sleeping capsule rolled on its side, catapulting him out of it. The sheets, blanket and pillow flashed with electricity and flew back into a perfectly made state. The capsule then condensed long ways into half its size and slid into the corner.

"I didn't know about that feature." said the unmoving Lombax on the floor. His eyes were still closed.

"Yes, it was one of my inventions from my early years at the academy. It's an upgraded form of the standard sleeping capsules and I designed it to conserve room space. I had two models and surprisingly the one that was very hard, and dangerous, to remove once installed didn't sell. Consequently that is the one I had installed in your room since I had extras. Consider it a room warming gift."

"I wonder who enjoys the gift more. The giver or the receiver." yawned the motionless furry lump as it curled into a ball in attempt to regain some of its lost comfort.

"Anyway I'd like to invite you to breakfast, but don't worry, there's no rush so come on up whenever you fell like it." Varick said happily. He began to walk away when he stopped, looked back into the room and said, "Oh, and welcome to your first day as a student at Nova Academy."

* * *

Kaden walked into the cafeteria on the main floor of the dormitory building about half an hour after his wake up call. He had thought about staying longer just to spite Varick, but decided it would be more wasteful of his own time than his.

The giant room was mostly filled with Science Field students eating breakfast, but you could tell by the apparel that some were students from the other two Fields. Most Lombaxes were in groups, eating and chatting or playing holo-games. Some sat alone and ate in a hurry or were writing on digi-pads. As he scanned the room he spotted Varick at a far table with a group of Science Field students, spending more time talking or writing than actually eating.

As Kaden approached, Varick gave him a cheerful wave and shooed away the Lombax sitting in the seat next him. He then gestured for Kaden to sit in recently vacated spot.

"First things first, order some breakfast then we'll get to your schedule for today." said Varick before he turned to finish his conversation with the person on his other side. It had something to do with committee budgets.

Kaden sat down with a yawn and tapped twice on the transparent table. A menu appeared and he quickly chose some juice and toast with some jelly sides. He never was a big breakfast person. Varick looked at his selection.

"Not a big eater?" he asked. "That's a shame."

"And why is that?" replied Kaden as he was about to push the order button."

"Because, since it's your first full day here at the academy I figured I'd treat you to breakfast. Also, let's call it a peace-offering for this morning." Kaden studied Varick's cheerful features before deciding to accept the offer.

Kaden erased his order and started again, choosing a simple meal with extra bacon and sausage. He'd briefly thought of trying to order something extravagantly expensive from the menu, but stopped himself. He felt that doing something petty like that was beneath him. Besides, the overall fact was that Varick had generously offered him a free meal.

Kaden finished the order and when Varick saw that he was done, he reached over and tapped the 'submit' icon. Varick's name flashed over the menu and it disappeared. He then entered a few things into the part of table in front of him, causing another page to appear. He slid the window over for kaden to read.

The page was a schedule that listed classes, locations, and times for the next few days and had Kaden's name on it. He had planned on accessing the database to get the schedule later, but since Varick had already gotten it for him, he simply saved a copy to his NID and closed it as a server-bot floated down and placed his meal on the table.

"The first few days are always simple for new students." began Varick. "Just go around to the designated room at the designated time and meet your instructors and fellow class mates. There you will learn about what is required of you to pass that class. They'll also give you the times for their lectures and security clearance to access class resources on the database." Varick then turned to his own plate of sausage and eggs.

"Is that it?" asked Kaden.

"Did you need something else?" said Varick looking back up.

"No, it's just you come all the way down to my dorm to wake me up and invite me to breakfast and you just give me my schedule?" Varick's mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"Well, I wanted to buy you breakfast. It's a big day after all. The key to a good year at Nova is starting it in a good way." Kaden accepted his answer and began to spread a green colored jelly on his toast when he noticed a pair of Lombaxes staring in his direction. When he looked back they quickly turned away and returned to their food. He had been noticing odd stares in his direction since he sat down.

"Is it odd that the President has breakfast in the public cafeteria?" Kaden asked after awhile. Varick looked at him again.

"Why, not at all. I have breakfast here almost every day." he replied.

"So then why do you keep getting stared at?" Varick's grin came back even wider this time. Kaden was starting to hate that grin. It gave him a bad feeling.

"No one is staring at me. Everyone is getting a good look at you."

"And why would anyone want a look at me?"

"Because they're trying to figure out what makes you so special."

"What do you mean special?" Kaden asked in surprise.

"Well not anyone gets to sit with the President of the Science Field. Especially not some hot off the train fuzzy. Anyone would be curious as to why that is." Varick explained.

"But that's because you're my mentor." Kaden replied, still confused.

"That's true, but why would the President, who has plenty of money and other responsibilities, take on a fuzzy underling? Even go so far as to buy them breakfast. It's bound to make a few people jealous."

"Then why would you do it if you knew…" Kaden paused while studying the grinning Lombax in front of him. "Why would you want everyone to be jealous of me?" Varick gave a small laugh and took a sip of his drink.

"Even though jealousy can cause cooperation problems, this school is here to improve the individual. If other students are jealous of you then they will attempt to improve themselves and surpass you. It's a great motivator." Kaden wasn't surprised that Varick was the kind of person to pull this sort of thing. He was however angered by one detail.

"But don't people tend to do things to bring down the person their jealous of as much as raise themselves up?" Kaden asked.

"Of course! That is why it's so perfect!" Exclaimed Varick excitedly. He seemed almost happy to be able to explain his scheme. "You see Kaden, I knew from the moment I saw your file that you could walk right through this school. You could pass all your classes, make a ton of friends, earn plenty of bolts and live comfortably here until you're a level eight with honors and you would never have truly worked for any of it. As the President it is my responsibility to make students reach their potential. Now that you have to contend with desires of everyone else to pull you down, you will have to improve yourself all that much more just to stay afloat." Now a self-satisfied grin shone brightly on Varick's face as he chuckled at the astonishment in Kaden's eyes.

Kaden said nothing as he looked down at the almost finished meal in front of him. He thought deeply about how much his 'free' breakfast had cost him. Finally he sighed and stuffed the rest in his mouth before washing it down with juice. He stood up and thanked Varick for the meal with as much sarcasm as he could fit in a five word sentence and walked away.

* * *

The first few days of school passed by Kaden uneventfully. He went to each appointment and met with his instructors. The majority of which were elder students of higher levels. As a new student Kaden had to go through the basic of the basics. Just like Varick had said, he would have no problem passing all of these classes. Kaden wondered to himself who could possibly not understand sub-atomic particle interaction properties which was the theme of the class he was currently in.

As he followed his schedule, he found that most of his classes didn't even require attendance. He received access to each one's database and there he could retrieve and submit assignments. Of course the Military Field classes required him to be there since they were physically based.

Every now and then he would notice similar, poorly hidden stares in his direction like the ones from that morning. His first thought was to foil Varick's plans by introducing himself and making peace early, but he didn't. It was hard to explain, but every time Kaden suspected that student's were plotting his downfall, he got the strong urge to simply crush their plans and prove to them just how far below him they were. He made a mental note to keep tabs on this urge to prevent himself from becoming too arrogant.

Kaden finished his Small Arms Proficiency class with one of the top five shooting range scores in his class. When he looked up what the overall academy scores he saw the top score was some ridiculously high number. He was sure that it had been fabricated by someone just to get students to try harder.

* * *

An alert sounded in Kaden's ear as his NID told him that his Multi-Galaxial Wormhole Study class was officially over. It was his third day at Nova and he was now free for a lunch break. Earlier he had received a message from Sorana and Alister to meet up at this time. Sorana had wanted them both to come to the Art Field's cafeteria, so that's where he was headed now.

As Kaden began walking down the pathway to the Art Field he heard his name called from behind him. He turned to see Alister running at him from the Military Field. Kaden waved and when Alister reached him they walked together down the path.

"You sure you're gonna be ok?" Alister asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" replied Kaden.

"Well I know how you get around 'ridiculous and illogical' things, as you put it. I'm just wondering why you agreed to meet in the Art Field."

"Hey, I may not like illogical things, but that doesn't mean I can't handle them. Besides, how crazy could the place be? It is a school after all."

Alister shrugged, "Don't say I didn't warn you." he said with a tone that told Kaden he was getting ready to say 'I told you so'. Kaden knew that Alister would be proven wrong and that he could handle any mockery of his precious logic.

* * *

Alister grinned broadly after having just said 'I told you so' to Kaden who was sitting across from him at what was considered a table. Kaden had his head flat across it and his ear drooped lifelessly.

Immediately upon entering the main building of the Art Field Kaden had felt like he'd walked into another dimension. The whole place was one giant festival in worship to non-sense. Lombaxes of more colors than Kaden was sure existed within the visible spectrum danced or floated around and sang in groups. Some wore masks, some wore ridiculous robes, and some wore almost nothing at all.

Kaden's head was spinning with the noise and colors. Luckily they found Sorana very soon, and even more luckily she didn't seem to be defying physics with her appearance. Though Kaden did notice much more color to her clothes than she normally wore. She greeted them both ecstatically and it was obvious that she had been enjoying her time. She showed the two of them to what looked like a giant metal leaf stuck in the ground.

Sorana and Alister sat on what Kaden assumed were seats, but looked more like tree stumps. As Kaden tried to sit on a giant mushroom chair it suddenly sprouted legs and ran away. He watched as it dashed off into the crowd and disappeared from view. He wasn't even surprised at this point. Sorana was laughing as Kaden found another stump like thing and sat on it before laying his head across the table in defeat.

After Alister whispered something in his ear, a robotic monkey landed on the table and screeched loudly next to Kaden's head, making him sit upright, but still he showed no sign of surprise in his face.

"Three please." Sorana said to the monkey.

It howled again and they could all hear mechanical whirring from inside of it. It turned around, released three metal rods from its robotic rear-end, and leapt away. Kaden's stone faced expression twitched for a second while Alister tried his hardest not to burst into laughter. Sorana picked up the three rods and gave one to Alister. She offered the last one to Kaden, who stared at the rod as he mentally debated whether now would be a good time to give up on sanity.

He finally took it and watched Sorana tap the top of hers which made a holographic menu appear. Kaden and Alister copied her and activated their own menus. Kaden had never even heard of the dishes on the menu. He'd barely even heard of any of their ingredients and half of the names were even written in other galactic Languages.

Kaden finally chose some random item that didn't have too many ingredients listed with it and put down his menu-rod. When Alister was finished Sorana gathered their rods and threw them into the air. Out of nowhere more robotic monkeys appeared and grabbed them all, mid-air, with hands and tails before landing on a ledge and disappearing again. Sorana grinned brightly.

"Isn't this place amazing?!" she let out in a joyful tone. Kaden didn't have the heart to verbally bash something she cared about. He simply nodded.

Sorana immediately began to talk about all the wonderful things she had seen since they had split up. Alister joined in with his experiences and finally Kaden detailed his time at Nova so far, though he left out the part of his mentor being the president. He didn't feel like answering question about Varick at the moment.

The three friends were deep in conversation when a group of monkey-bots landed on the table carrying a variety of plates and drinks. They dropped the meals on the table and disappeared.

"I don't think this is supposed to be green." said Kaden as he picked up a fork full of noodles that, besides being green, appeared to move in a way inconsistent with how Kaden poked it.

"You think that looks bad, you should have seen what I had to eat in my last class." said Alister, essentially ignoring Kaden's complaint. "I was in Basic Survival and guess what our lesson was on the first day?"

"I'm guessing something about eating disgusting survival food." said Kaden in a mildly sarcastic manner. Alister gave him a look of annoyance, but continued undeterred.

"So get this. When I get to the class the instructor takes us to a greenhouse and says: 'Your first assignment. Find one plant in here that is save to eat. After everyone has picked, you will then prove its edibility by eating it. I guarantee that none of these plants are deadly, but at least half of them are strong laxatives. You have twenty minutes.' And then he just sits there and waits."

"But you know all about dangerous plants from half the planets in the galaxy." said Kaden. "That should have been easy for you."

"It was, but that wicked instructor only put in three plants that were safe to eat, and they were all gross and slimy. He clearly hoped that no one would pick them as a guess if they had to. That isn't the most interesting part though. That red Lombax from yesterday was in my class too." Now Kaden was interested and so was Sorana.

"Really?! Did you meet them? Were they still wearing their armor?" asked Sorana immediately. Alister looked pleased to suddenly have an attentive audience.

"No, he was still wearing it, though now he was wearing the helmet for a G-83 armor set too. He didn't talk to anyone, but the instructor called him Kor."

"That's a shame." said Sorana in mild disappointment. "I wonder what his face looks like…Wait a second. If he was wearing a helmet how'd he eat the plant?"

"I'm getting to that." continued Alister. "The G-83 helmet can open around the mouth to allow sampling without having to remove it. As soon as the teacher gave the instructions, Kor immediately goes around picking leaves and stalks at random and eating them. He spat a few out, but soon he selected his plant to show to the instructor. Thing was, the plant was an extremely powerful vomit inducer from Sargasso. I was surprised his first taste alone didn't make him puke. After he showed the instructor his plant, he sat down and waited for everyone else. Some kids even copied Kor's pick because they saw him eat some."

"Isn't that cheating?" asked Kaden. Alister shook his head at the comment in a mock disapproving manner.

"Kaden, there is no such thing as cheating in a survival situation. It is life or death! Plus the instructor didn't say we couldn't so anything's free game. Anyway, after time was up we were all told to eat what we were holding and less than ten minutes later it was just me, two other students, and Kor left in the greenhouse. Everyone else had left as the effects of the plants they ate started kicking in." Alister's faced cracked into a huge grin as he clearly pictured panicked Lombax students rushing to get to nearest restroom.

"Ok, but you said Kor ate the vomiting plant right?" asked Sorana, breaking Alister from his reminiscing.

"Yah, that's the weird part. The three of us and the instructors just stood there waiting, but Kor never moved. The instructor asked if he was ok and he just nodded. So we were dismissed." Alister finished his story and returned to his food after being clearly reminded of a taste he wanted to forget.

"That's so fascinating." said Sorana with interest. "Red Lombaxes must have pretty strong stomachs. I guess that's what happens when you live in a place like Magnoron. To think there's a group of Lombaxes that are so unique." Kaden was beginning to get annoyed by Sorana's interest in Kor, but he didn't know why. Maybe it was because of the incident on the train, or maybe it was just his current situation. He wondered about it as he looked down at his half-eaten... whatever it was.

The three of them finished their meals and headed back outside. Sorana bid the boys farewell as she went off to her next class. Kaden and Alister had the same class next. It was Wrench Bashing 101, so they headed to the Military Field together.

"I hate having to take these wimpy starter courses." brooded Alister as soon as they were past the main Art Field area. "It's like retaking Pre-Ed. What kind of fool with fur and stripes can't swing a wrench?" Kaden rolled his eyes. He understood what Alister meant, but he couldn't see the point in complaining about it.

"There's nothing you can do about it. The way I see it, it's like getting a vacation. You don't have to study or practice and you'll pass all your classes while learning about your new school."

"Huh, easy for you to say. You never… what's that sound?" A low rumbling could be heard from the distance in the direction of the Science field.

Alister and Kaden both turned to see what was making the noise, along with every other student in the area. They could just make out a purple light emanating from the roof of the main Science building. Every so often a bolt of purple lighting flashed from it and the rumbling steadily increased in pitch. The noise stopped and was replaced with an echoing _thump_!

The noise reached across the field in time with a massive discharge of lighting. Immediately after the flash they could see a Lombax silhouette hurtling over them at an incredible speed. A second later it was out of sight.

Almost every student in the area turned back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened. Kaden and Alister continued walking. After a few seconds of silence Alister spoke.

"Well, at least you'll get a good view of the Academy." he said casually.

"Getting shot out of a velocity inducer for a punishment requires getting caught. It'll never happen." Kaden countered.

They both smiled at the thought for different reasons and continued to their destination.


	7. Prelude

Kaden and Alister arrived at the entrance to a physical training area. Their next class was supposed to be inside. They entered through the men's side to a standard locker room with storage lockers, showers, and a small med-station. They then walked past this area and into the gym portion to find a small group of students all facing a tough looking brown furred Lombax with a scar that ran from the top of his left eye to his chin. Kaden and Alister took a seat on any suitable surface in the room.

They took in the room and saw the arrays of weights, grav-stations, punching bags, and various other exercise equipment. As Kaden looked around he stopped when he saw a familiar figure. A Lombax wearing red armor sat motionless in the corner. He now found himself looking forward to this class.

After a few minutes the grizzled Lombax at the center checked a chronometer on his gauntlet computer and began to speak.

"My name is Sergeant Ragnin. I will be instructing your Wrench Bashing class for so long as I deem you incapable of swinging a wrench properly. Today we'll evaluate your skill with these standard wrenches." the Sargeant indicated a weapons cart next to him that was full of basic OmniWrenches. "I'll let you use a military grade wrench when I'm sure you won't kill yourselves with it or if I need a good laugh. If you have one of your own, you can show me what you can do with it later." Ragnin looked around at each student one at a time. He paused for a second on Kor, but then continued scanning the room, after which he continued speaking.

"Since every student in the Military Field has to take this class I have the 'joy' of teaching you some of the basics of the academy's layout. This here is the Fuzzy gym." Ragnin spread his arms to emphasize the room they were in. "It's for level one and two students only. That doesn't mean higher level students can't come in here, it means that this is the only gym in the Military Field that your allowed to use. You can use it anytime you want. It's available everyday all day. I suggest you spend as much time in here as you can. You'll need the extra training. Any question?" A white furred Lombax in the middle of room raised her hand.

"All my other classes are being taught by students just a few levels above me. Why are you teaching such a low level class?" The instructor smiled before replying.

"That is an excellent question. The reason someone of my esteemed caliber is required to teach a bunch of fresh Fuzzies like yourselves is because Wrench Bashing is a core principle that must be ingrained into you properly. It is the seed that will eventually grow into the tree of wrath and destruction that makes up who you are as a warrior." He paused for a moment.

"The reason why I specifically am teaching this class…"

Ragnin grabbed a wrench from the cart and flung it towards the entrance. It struck with thud into a student's gut. It then flew back, spinning, into the Sergeant's hand. After a moment it was apparent that the student had been late and was attempting to sneak into the room without being seen. Ragnin continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

"When you're a fuzzy at this academy you are the most likely in your life to make mistakes, break rules, and generally screw up. Beating the failure out of each and every student, one at a time, is by far my favorite activiity. Any others? Yes you in the armor." Everyone turned to the corner where Kor sat with his hand raised. When he spoke his voice was filtered through his helmet's speakers. Whether from age or if that was just how they were built, the voice that emanated from it had a rough, metallic tinge to it.

"If I am able to demonstrate adequate skill, is it possible to pass this course and move on to one of a higher level immediately?" The instructor looked up the students name on his gauntlet and studied Kor for a moment before answering.

"Despite this class being called a 'basic course' it is actually very difficult. For you to reach my expectations of 'adequate' you'd have to be able to wield your wrench like it was a part of you."

"Then it is possible." stated Kor flatly. Ragnin tapped his chin for a few seconds,

"Very well, if you're arrogant enough to believe yourself too good for this class then I'll tell you this: I can transfer any student I want to a higher level class at any time. I would even have done it without being asked, but in all my years at the academy I haven't yet met a single fuzzy worthy of getting bumped a level. If you can dazzle me with an amazing display of skill, I'll personally supervise you're transfer to 'Advanced CQWC (Close Quarters Wrench Combat) Tactics and Skills', personally. That's a level 3 course so you'd be skipping the rest of the level one and two courses in between, though you won't officially be a level 3. Do you at least have your own wrench?" Kor nodded in reply. "Then let's go see what you're made of." Ragnin looked around the room at the rest of the class, "All of you."

He turned and began to leave after ordering the closest student to bring the cart with them. Kaden looked back at the Lombax curled up in the fetal position. He groaned with pain, but it didn't look like he'd be getting up any time soon, so the rest of class followed the instructor without him.

Sergeant Ragnin took them out of gym and down the hall a little ways to a large circular room with doors all around and spectator stands behind a reinforced glass window above them. He waited for all of the students to enter before addressing the class.

"This is a training arena. Most are stocked with every kind of state-of-the-art training dummy you could ever want. Especially since the toughter ones fight back, so you'll never WANT to fight them. Now since Mr. Vol'terran here believes himself a master of the Lombaxes' trademark weapon I'll let him demonstrate how it's done. The rest of you grab a wrench if you don't have one and get in the stands. You'll get your turn later."

Kaden got in line to grab a wrench. Part of him was getting excited now. He was eager to learn just how skilled Kor was. He was personally hoping that the mysterious Lombax was some incredible warrior like in the legend. That at least would explain the incident on the train without making him feel as stupid about it. Just as he was heading to the stands, he glanced over and saw Kor holding his weapon.

Laid across his shoulders and held balanced by one hand was the single largest OmniWrench Kaden had ever seen. He didn't know how he hadn't seen it until now. It was almost as tall as Kor was, from end to tip, and its head was twice as large as an average wrench's. This was a Praetorian Malleus Wrench.

All OmniWrenches were made with an array of internal components. Many have non-military functions such as magnetizers to pull bolts and objects from its surroundings. Kaden had always wanted a special modification that turns the kinetic energy from striking the ground into a concussive shockwave of air that shatters brittle objects in the immediate vicinity.

Almost all wrenches however, have two standard components. One is a gravity manipulator to lighten its weight so it could be an effective close-quarters weapon. It also doubled as the component that allows OmniWrenches to be thrown and return like a boomerang. The second was a micro-kinetic force multiplier that turned regular strikes from what was a swinging piece of metal into a crushing force that can break solid steel with ease or even allow the small framed Lombax race to turn massive bolt-cranks.

In the case of the Malleus Wrench the majority of add-on space was used for gravity control since its weight makes it essentially useless to the agility based tactics of the Lombaxes. Even with these components however, it's still very hard to control. That's why so few soldiers use them today.

_Another relic,_ thought Kaden as he compared the wrench to Kor's armor. Kor must have only had access to old military surplus from The Great War. Sergeant Ragnin stood alone in the arena with him after everyone else was sitting in the stands.

"Alright, we'll start with a soft run through the basics, then you can show me what you've really got. You do know three basic strike patterns right?" Kor hefted his Wrench with one hand in the wrench's double hand guard and the other just underneath the head. Ragnin took that as a yes.

"As for the rest of you," he called to the stands while turning to look up at them. "The three strikes are: The three hit combo 'Multi-strike', the over-the-head 'Hyper-strike', and the long reaching 'Comet-strike'." he turned to Kor and pressed a button on his gauntlet. Three robotic sparring droids rolled out of a doorway to stand in a line ahead of Kor. The farthest one was spaced slightly further away.

"You are to complete those three attacks in the order I listed them." With another push of a button, blue shield layers generated around the three androids' figures.

"These shields are advanced kinetic deflectors." explained Ragnin. "They prevent heavy weapons from damaging the drones. However, if you're not strong enough, they will nullify your attacks completely. I suggest you put everything you have into your swings if you don't want to look like a fool."

"READY!" Ragnin shouted. Kor crouched low and offset his feet in preparation to run. "BEGIN!"

Kor bolted forward after the first target. At the perfectly timed moment he shifted his body almost as if he was falling while spinning it like a corkscrew. The massive wrench, pulled along by one hand, followed his spinning movements to in a wide orbit around his center of mass and ended in a perfect side sweeping swing. The wrench head connected with the side of the android. There was a flash as the blue shield shattered like glass. The robot crumpled inwardly, before being sent flying into the arena wall.

Kor continued forward without breaking his stride and was already in the air by the time Kaden had returned his gaze from the first shattered droid. The wrench's head struck the second robot's head, crushing it like a tin can, and pushing it down into the chest before the android's metal frame reached its limit and was cleaved in two by the attack. The wrench even bit into the arena floor.

A blink later Kor had spun around 360 degrees with both hands on wrench's grip. At the right moment he released it and it flew straight as a laser beam to the center of the last target. It ate through the shield layer like it wasn't even there and pinned the droid to the wall behind it.

Kor stood in silence for a few seconds before walking forward to retrieve his weapon. The spectators were awestruck. Many were standing with their jaws open, including Sergeant Ragnin.

"You…but… the shielding…how?" Ragnin fumbled as his mind tried to comprehend what just happened. In his confusion he honed in on his number one focus, reprimand.

"Your wrench didn't return to you after you threw it. That wasn't a Comet-strike that was just a hammer throw." Kor ripped his weapon from the wall (and the android's body) before hefting it back onto his shoulders. He turned to reply to Ragnin's words.

"My wrench does not contain the necessary components to return after it's thrown. I had the grav-manipulators replaced for extra kinetic multipliers. I was told that it would be acceptable." Ragnin still looked confused. Kaden couldn't believe anyone could wield a Malleus Wrench that gracefully, even with grav-manipulators.

"Yes it's allowed, but...Wait." Ragnin began again. "You didn't complete the Multi-strike either. You only hit the dummy once." Kor tilted his head to one side slightly.

"The target was clearly disabled. Anyone who would blindly swing twice more at thin air after the target is defeated would be a sorry excuse for a warrior."

"True…but …you." Ragnin stopped himself, took a deep, calming breath, and released it. He mumbled to himself, "I hate paper work." before addressing Kor again. "Kor you're dismissed for the day. Thank you for your demonstration." Kor stood his wrench vertically at his side and bowed to the sergeant, before returning it to his shoulders and striding out of the arena.

Ragnin watched him go before pressing a few more keys on his gauntlet. Three more androids entered the arean. They were larger than the first and had massive arms that were clearly not meant for target practice alone. Ragnin spun around and looked up at the stands with a half-grin on his face and a twinkle of determination in his eye.

"NEXT!"

* * *

It had been over two Galactic standard weeks since Kaden had first arrived at Nova Academy. Since then he'd become accustomed to Nova Academy's layout and daily life.

In the recent days he had seen less and less of his friend Sorana. This was unfortunate, but inevitable. As she became absorbed in the Art Field and it's teachings she had become very busy. Similarly, with the Military Field's tournament coming up he had been busy preparing with Alister, whom he met with almost every day.

The day before the year opening tournament Kaden and Alister spent almost all of it together making final plans and strategies. Kaden double-check the tournament rules to be sure they weren't going to break any. It was a very unusual feeling for him.

The tournament's contestants consisted of all level one and level two students who were registered with the Military Field. Every student received a single metallic I.D. sphere that would magnetically adhere to their armor's chest and shoulder plates.

Patrons of the game referred to the I.D. spheres as 'souls'. The souls were fairly small. A level one student's soul was just small enough to be completely enclosed in your fist. A level two student's soul was about twice that size. The objective of the game was to take the souls of as many other players as possible before the time limit ran out. When the time was up you would be awarded bolts for every soul you had. A level two student's soul was worth twice the prize value of a level one's.

Every player's starting soul was unique to them. There was a specialized magnetic slot that was placed in the center of each student's armor and only their original soul was capable of magnetizing to it. If their original soul was taken they were granted a thirty minute 'last stand' to reclaim it. If the stolen soul is not replaced by the end of the thirty minutes, the student disqualified from the match and teleported away.

To prevent students from hiding souls in the environment, each soul deactivates and becomes worthless if not re-attached to a new piece of armor within five minutes.

No mobility devices were allowed, including hover boots. Both Alister and Kaden were quite upset at this rule. All weapons that were non-species morphing, non-mind controlling, non-hairstyle altering and were lower than a class four lethality were allowed, along with any support gadgets excluding direct communication devices.

There was no rule against working together so Kaden and Alister had decided to team up during the event itself. Kaden had found out that it was a common tactic, but the downside is that allies have to share their prize.

The tournament this year would be held in one of the local forests owned by Nova Academy, so there would be plenty of material and cover for traps.

Their final preparations complete, both of them went to their living quarters to get a good night's sleep.

* * *

The day of the tournament started out slow for Kaden. Since his schedule had been cleared of classes for him to participate, he had nothing to do until the tournament itself. The situation was made worse by the fact that he had woken up five hours earlier than he had intended to. He never understood why he couldn't sleep when he was so tired. It didn't make sense. Other people might suggest that it was due to nervousness from his upcoming battle, but he knew that couldn't be the case. After all there was no logic in being nervous either.

Kaden attempted to read more articles about previous tornaments, but he had already read and practically memorized all of them. However, with only a few hours of sleep and being unable to return to it, Kaden found that he couldn't to even focus on the words.

_This is ridiculous!_ thought Kaden. If he couldn't read because he was falling asleep, but also could not actually fall asleep then he would just have to wake up. He got dressed into his athletic uniform, grabbed his gym bag, and left his room.

He thought about using one of the exercise rooms in the Science Field, but decided he'd like to take a walk through the cool mountain air. Hopefully it'd be enough to wake him up and if not he'd just have to practice a few close-quarter moves.

On his walk over Kaden didn't see another living thing (specifically living as maintenance and cleaning bots were a constant traffic around Nova). This made sense considering that the sun was currently on the other side of Fastoon. Thinking about that fact reminded him that he was in a bad mood.

He arrived at the Fuzzy Gym and entered the locker room. After depositing his gear into a random locker he headed into the fitness room. At the doorway he reached for the lights then stopped. He could hear some kind of thumping noise. It didn't follow a repetitive pattern, but it felt like it had a rhythm to it.

Kaden stared into the darkness, trying to discern what it was. Two green lights flashed brightly in the void. Something about them gave him a strange feeling. He reached for the light switch and flicked the touch screen's meter to full. Instantly the whole gym was illuminated. Kaden looked around. The only moving object in the room was an old-fashioned sand bag. It rocked back and forth slowly as Kaden felt an overwhelming sense of déjà-vu.

He cautiously walked into the room and continued to scan the area when he jumped in surprise. Standing near the resting benches was Kor who, while wearing hastily fastened goggles, stood with a body language that told Kaden he was ready to fight.

"Your purpose?" inquired the Lombax in his grainy, filtered voice that emanated from the breathing mask on his face.

"Do I need one?" replied Kaden reflexively. Kor's armored hand curled into a ball and Kaden became aware of how alone the two of them were. He noted that the Kor wore most of his usual suit of armor. Since this was Kaden's initial and only impression of the Lombax so far he hadn't noticed it and it now put him at a serious disadvantage.

While still taking account of the situation he finally noticed that the Kor's goggles weren't correctly fastened to his face; they were hastily put on. He recalled what Varick had said about Red Lombaxes apparently having sensitive eyes. He realized that he had probably shown up and turned the lights on while the Kor wasn't wearing them. Kaden attempted to apologize,

"I'm sorry about the light. I wasn't aware that anyone was in here." The armored Lombax's fist relaxed.

"It would seem that you have an abundant lack of awareness. You should probably attempt to improve that."

Kaden couldn't be sure, because of the artificial voice, but he was fairly certain that Kor had just insulted him. It took him a few moments to be sure that it was in fact an insult, and then it struck him that the insult had merit. He tried to retort, but couldn't think of a reply,

"Well…I…uh." was what managed to escape Kaden's throat just in time to follow the red Lombax out of the fitness room. Kaden tried to follow him, he didn't want to end their interaction like that, but Kor was gone by the time Kaden turned the corner. The locker room was empty. Kaden stood dumbstruck at being made a fool of. Twice he realized, by the same person.

An uninvited memory from the train came to mind as he spotted the sandbag again, still swinging lazily. He decided to take his anger out on it at least. Kaden spun on his heel and marched to the small ring that measured off the sandbag's training area with his mind full of anger inducing thoughts and memories.

He took two steps into the ring and slammed, face first into the floor. His arms, legs, and tail were all pinned flat to the ground and he couldn't move. He managed to rotate his extremely heavy head on its side while it still spun from the impact. A robotic voice issued from somewhere above him,

"Facial imprint detected in Grav-training ring floor."

A tiny square of light suddenly appeared just in front of Kaden's face on the semi-clear polymorphic material that made up the ground he was stuck to. On it was a graphic representation of a dial and a digital scale that read: 'Fastoon Gravity X **5.7**'. Kaden slowly moved his hand over to the dial. He fought hard to place his finger on it and rotate it until it read "**1**". The gravity relinquished its hold on him and he took a massive breath as he lost a few hundred pounds of bodyweight.

_What kind of monster trains on 5.7 G's while wearing armor!? _Kaden wondered in amazement. He pushed himself off the ground. As he did so he felt something snap back to its original position inside his body. After a few more painful seconds he was standing up again. He turned and walked for the exit. He suddenly had the urge to give sleeping another try.


	8. The Tournament Begins

Kaden and Alister stood side by side in a large square formation of Level one students, each wearing a suit of combat armor. They had assembled in the Military Field's coliseum and were awaiting the start of the tournament. Kaden yawned loudly and earned a look of concern from Alister.

"You have a rough night?" he inquired.

"No." Kaden replied sleepily. "I had a rough morning. I'll be fine, don't worry about it." Alister shrugged and faced forward.

They were both wearing standard issue combat armor. Alister's was heavier than Kaden's, but Kaden's had been heavily modified with tons of features. Their wrenches were also standard issue. One of Kaden's 'additions' to his personal wrench turned out to be illegal in the tournament, so he had to make do with a standard version.

Like almost every other Student around them they both wore backpacks full of supplies. Some of Alister's pack even had Kaden's equipment, since there was so much of it.

A familiar large, tan furred Lombax walked onto a stage set at the end of the field. This was the same person Kaden had seen on his first day at the academy after leaving Varick's room. By now he'd learned that he was in fact the 'Commander' of the Military Field. Kaden had also found out that the brown furred Lombax accompanying him was the 'Queen' of the Art Field. Everyone stood to attention as the commander started to speak,

"As you all know, today you will begin participation of the Military Student Evaluation Tournament. This year your stage will be the Lotrin Forest, located just north of the Mt. Super Nova. You are not allowed to leave the forest area and you will be given only one warning as you approach its borders. Each of you will be teleported in at random locations and at random time intervals one by one. The tournament begins the second you arrive in the forest. Five galactic standard days later, those of you who remain will be retrieved and rewarded based on your performance." The Commander paused for a moment.

"You will be monitored at all times by both a staff of tournament officials and anyone wanting to watch through the academy network by these..." He waved his hand and a swarm of fist sized floating cameras cascaded over the stadium walls to hover above the crowd. Kaden studied them closely.

"Any violation of tournament rules will result in your immediate removal and your subsequent punishment, the severity of which will depend on the Dean's mood. The coliseum equipment room has been outfitted with your tournament gear and the shift pads you will be using. Each of you will receive a personal I.D. sphere, its armor cradle, a teleporter beacon, and 0.2 liters of liquid Nanotech. If you brought any Nanotech personally, it will be added to your current supply. If at any time during the tournament you run out of Nanotech you will be immediately disqualified and teleported away." The Commander took a breath and put his arms behind his back before speaking in a different tone,

"I want you all to make the academy proud by demonstrating the strength of its newest generation and that of its youngest members. Good luck to each of you."

Once the Commander finished, the crowd silently marched by row out of the stadium and towards the equipment rooms. Kaden took this time to verify that the GPS he'd put in Alister's armor was working.

A few minutes later he and Kaden were waiting in line to a shift pad as student after student walked onto its surface, before disappearing in a flash of blue light. He looked down at the metal slot on his chest with its small orb nestled inside and wondered at how important it was going to be in the next few days. Alister was up to teleport soon. He turned to Kaden and hefted his wrench in a macho pose.

"See you on the other side." he said with a grin.

"Try not to lose your soul before I find you, got it?" said Kaden. The two friends touched forearms before Alister turned and stepped onto the platform. A second later he was gone and Kaden followed behind him.

There was few seconds as the operator adjusted to next set of preloaded coordinates and a hum of energy grew louder as the teleporter charged again. A moment later the world turned blue as Kaden felt himself falling for a millisecond before landing in the middle of a dense forest area. He looked around, but there was nothing noteworthy to his surroundings. He checked his Nav unit for bearings. It took awhile to readjust because of the havoc teleporting wreaked on personal positioning technology.

_Eight whole seconds to recalibrate from a simple 150 kilometer jump!_ thought kaden. He'd have to retune his Nav unit later.

After his location was fixed he studied the geography, noting the nearby streams marked on his map and rough terrain. They'd be important for surviving in the woods until the tournament ended. He located Alister's marker, it was about ten Kilometers south of him.

Kaden got in a good stretch and calibrated some of his detection equipment before heading off cautiously towards Alister. The tournament had begun.

* * *

About halfway to Alister's homing beacon Kaden's acoustic analyzer detected movement in the trees just ahead of him. He sighed and kneeled down to verify the readings and discern the source of the signal. This was probably about the tenth time this had happened, Lotrin forest was filled with all kinds of animals. Though he had spent the last week calibrating the sensor to filter out most of the recognizable sounds of wildlife movement, there were plenty that too closely resembled a Lombax's movement sound to be removed completely.

As Kaden hid in a bush he began to activate various other pieces of detection equipment. His thermal scanner verified a heat source consistent with a Lombax wearing light armor, or an inactive Brown Tree Ape. Since the target was detected by his acoustic analyzer, that told him the itt had been moving, so he had a good feeling that he'd finally found another student.

Kaden stalked the target as quietly as he could. His wrench ready and his suit's special systems were charged. If he could get the jump on the other player he wouldn't have to use any of his limited supplies. A good whack or two to the helmet with his wrench would be quick, easy, and cheap.

He held his breath as he listened to the scratching from the other side of the tree. His was on that side and Kaden was prepared. Hopefully the enemy wouldn't be ready for him. If they were a skilled fighter it would have been unlikely that Kaden would have detected them so easily, unless they had already detected him and were lying in wait.

Kaden spied one of the hovering game cameras nearby. If the later was the case then he'd look very stupid in front of the whole school…and in front of Sorana if she was watching. He shook away the thought. He had been careful, so he shouldn't have been detected easily either, and he couldn't turn back now.

With a deep breath Kaden leapt around the tree with his wrench raised in his right hand and his left hand ready to deliver a second attack if necessary. His opponent stood before him.

A very large Brown Tree Ape, caked in dirt from a recent mud bath, turned to face Kaden in surprise as it registered the sudden appearance of another mammal and as Kaden registered his mistake. The Ape reacted first. Bearing its fangs in loud howl of anger, it leapt at Kaden with its long arms grabbing at any part of him it could.

Kaden dodged with a roll and came up facing away from the Ape ready to run, but the mud caked beast had managed to grab his ankle in its flailing attack. It immediately pulled back on the leg, forcing Kaden into the ground on his stomach.

His wrench tangled in a vine as he fell and refused to budge when he tugged hard to swing it at his attacker. In the moment of hesitation the snag caused, the Ape was able to jump on the Kaden's back and began hammering on his helmet driving his face into the mud.

Kaden took an approximate guess as to where the ape's face should be and whipped the tip of his tail at its eyes as hard as he could. The Ape roared and swatted at the sudden annoyance. Kaden felt a slight change in pressure as the animal's center of mass shifted. He rolled as hard as he could and was able to topple the beast to the ground.

It shrieked in surprise as it scrambled upright to stand over Kaden who was now on his back. As the Ape swung its right arm down Kaden caught its wrist in his right hand and pulled it between them to block the Ape's left.

After an instantaneous, mentally transmitted signal to his glove, Kaden punched the Ape right in its face. The beast was stunned, but only for a moment. It regained its composure, broke Kaden's hold of its wrist and roared at him again. Grabbing him with both hands the ape lifted Kaden over its head and tossed him into a tree.

Kaden slammed into the tree as the air was knocked out of his lungs. The ape was on him again before he could breath. It clasped its hands together into a single massive fist and held it poised to strike down on him.

Kaden crossed his arms in front of his face in preparation for the stike, but it never came. He looked up at the sounds of howling to see that the ape was desperately trying to wipe something off its face and was thrashing about in pain and anger. Kaden took the opportunity roll away from it and regain his wrench. He stood with his weapon poised in his hands, but there was no need. The Tree Ape had completely forgotten about Kaden's presence. It rolled around in painful confusion as the acid-like microbe Kaden had stored in his glove ate away at its skin.

A biological weapon of Kaden's own design, the microbe is dormant until it comes into contact with living tissue. It begins to breakdown any carbon-based material and uses it to replicate hundreds of times faster than most organic cells. It wasn't lethal though. The microbe's lightning fast replication rate comes from the fact that it's wholly dedicated to reproducing and doesn't survive long after activation. However, it's already shakily built DNA sequences become even more unstable with each reproduction and the organism as a whole dies after a few minutes.

It was a great incapacitating tool, as the howling Tree Ape demonstrated by dragging its face through the mud before slamming it into a nearby tree. The act of which knocked it unconscious. It slowly rocked back until it collapsed on the forest floor and lay still. Kaden stood up and brushed himself off while looking around.

_Hey Kaden, good job getting that monkey off your back._; _Hey_ _Kaden, you were sure monkeying around a lot during the tournament._; _Hey Kaden, that fight looked CHIMPossible. We all went bananas watching it._; _Hey Kaden,.._.

As Kaden mentally ran through a frustratingly long list of monkey puns that he knew he'd be hearing from anyone that had just witnessed what happened, he found himself wishing that it had been a skilled enemy Lombax laying in wait for him after all. At least then he would have decent excuse for why he was now wiping mud off his helmet's visor.

He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. Stuffing away useless thoughts for later, he swept the area for signs of other enemies with his analyzers. He double checked his equipment, double checked Alister's position, and strolled off. He knew someday that he'd look back on this moment and APEreciate its humor, he frowned as he mentally added that one to the list, but it wasn't now.

* * *

Kaden was now closing in on Alister's signal. As they had planned, Alister hadn't moved far from his original position, lest he begin walking off in the opposite direction. Kaden would have to be extra careful now though. His suit had a GPS monitor system because it was a simple software upgrade to his personal gauntlet. Alister would have needed an entirely new piece of equipment. Besides that, if they both had a GPS it would be simple to communicate with each other in Morse code by activating and deactivating the signal and that was against tournament rules. Unfortunately, now Alister had no way to know when Kaden was expected to show up.

* * *

Alister sat motionless on a tree branch overlooking the animal path he had chosen to set-up on. He reflected on his situation and how dire it had become. Kaden hadn't made contact yet so he was likely either close by, or already out of the tournament.

Alister grinned and shook his head at the thought. If someone was tough enough to make Kaden go all out this early in the game Alister knew he'd have heard the explosions from here.

No, it wasn't concern for his friend that worried him now. Since he couldn't move too far from his original position that meant he was confined to a small area and when a Lombax warrior is confined to a small area for a long duration of time in a game where hundreds of other warriors were out hunting each other all around him meant one very bad thing. Alister….was bored!

He didn't know how much longer he could last like this. Every strand of his fur was itching to go out and hunt down some souls and earn their sweet rewards. He couldn't even lay down any kind of elaborate trap for fear that Kaden might walk into it, though it might be funny. He allowed thoughts of 'accidentally' catching his friend in an elaborate and humiliating booby-trap entertain him for awhile. Halfway through his favorite imagination so far, a trap that involved capturing a local Brown Tree Ape and unleashing it to leap on top of Kaden, his trained ears picked up the sound of movement on the wind.

Alister immediately assumed it was Kaden and began to get excited, but stopped. _Kaden would never let himself be heard so easily_, he thought. Alister let out a low whistle that crescendoed into several loud tweets. This was the call of a Fastoonian bird that he and Kaden had decided to use for communication in this scenario.

* * *

Kaden stopped. He was very close to Alister's signal now and thought he'd heard a noise nearby, but he couldn't be sure. He wiggled a finger in one his ear and found that there was still a bit of mud in it. He had been listening to his long-range sound wave amplifier (which transmitted its signals directly to Kaden's NID) after the fight with the ape until a second ago, so he never even noticed it.

* * *

_Well that settles it._ thought Alister. _Two strikes you're out._ Alister detached a small sphere from its magnetic holster and examined it. This was a weapon of his own design (though Kaden had helped him with some of the calculations), a stun grenade. It used a combination of oscillating magnetic pulse and concussive waves to effectively rattle someone into unconsciousness. This grenade could knock the enemy out cold with a single toss. They were hard to make, but one of his proudest creations.

Alister had a personal affection for grenades. They were so compact and versatile, and they came in so many varieties. Like candy!

He carefully stood up on the branch as he listened for the approaching enemy. Just as Alister was about to throw the orb in his hand, he paused. Something didn't feel right. The target was getting closer, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

It came to him just in time. He immediately deactivated the gently buzzing orb and reattached to his holster. _What was he thinking_? he thought. He was about to make a huge mistake. Alister pulled out different grenade before activating it.

_That's better, _he thought. It was too early in the game to waste a stun grenade. A concussion grenade was more than adequate and he tossed the bomb into the air. As it arced through the air towards a rattling bush the orb split as the stored energy began pump out of its core and ionize the air around it. It glowed brightly before detonating at the exact moment the unsuspecting, brown furred Lombax emerged from the foliage.

* * *

Kaden heard the heavy thud of an explosion as the noise rippled through the forest. He knew the sound of Alister's concussion grenades well and he immediately headed off towards it.

* * *

The Brown Lombax was confused and half-blinded by his near proximity to the blast, but not unconscious. In his dazed state he managed to grip his weapon, but was unable to aim, so he let loose a hail of random concussion blasts. Alister dove from his branch and caught a lower one as he swung toward the ground and landed behind a tree to avoid the barrage.

The Wrecker Cannon that the enemy student had was essentially an energy shotgun without any ballistic shot in it, so it just blasted super compressed air and would be about as effective as on of Alister's concussion grenades if he took a direct hit, but with the way the enemy was firing that was unlikely.

There was a short pause as the brown Lombax tried to reorient himself. Alister bolted from the tree and chucked a micro-concussion grenade at him, which detonated with about a third of the force of the first blast. Alister's objective was to keep the enemy dazed while he moved in for the finishing blow.

With multiple disorienting explosions around him, the besieged Lombax sprinted straight down the path and away from Alister. The enemy barely avoided branches and trees as he tried desperately to escape.

Alister pursued and easily caught up to him just as the path reached a small river flowing gently through the woods. Alister had been able to at least scout this area before now and knew that just downriver the path halted at waterfall. It was only a few meters high but enough to trap his prey. He placed another micro-concussion grenade to the brown Lombax's left, successfully driving him towards the dead-end.

The exhausted, disoriented, and now terrified student ran with everything he had. He hadn't even laid eyes on his assailant yet and was already close to losing the fight. It had been a little while since the last explosion as he continued to run. Just as the Lombax was feeling like he may have escaped, the path ended at a vertical drop off, next to a cascading waterfall.

Blinking furiously to clear his blurred vision, he swung his weapon back around fearfully searching for his attacker and preparing to blast them the second they showed themselves.

For a long few seconds nothing happened. Nothing moved and all was complete silence. Suddenly a white Lombax burst from the river to his right. Caught by surprise the brown Lombax tried pull his weapon around, but was nowhere near fast enough.

Azimuth's wrench connected with his target's side, likely breaking ribs, and sending waves of pain through their body. As the brown Lombax slipped into pain induced unconsciousness, his finger tightened around the trigger of his gun. A massive blast erupted from the cannon's mouth and slammed into the ground a pointblank range. The recoil of it launched both him and Alister over the waterfall and into the basin below.

A few seconds after the water's surface had calmed Alister burst back out with a heavy inhale of breath. He swam to the edge of the basin and dragged his unconscious enemy out with him. He proceeded to catch his breath while coughing river water out onto the ground.

_Clap_, _clap_, _clap_, came a steady rhythm of noise from behind him.

Alister spun around and looked back toward the top of the waterfall where the sound was coming from. He pulled back his wrench to throw, but relaxed when he say Kaden smiling down at him.

"That was an amazing performance." Kaden called down to his friend. "I give you a nine for the creative, surprise river monster attack, but only about a six for the dive. It's the best I could do. Next time try a flip or something. You also lost points for wasted ammunition. How many grenades did it take you to stop this guy?"

"Oh yah?" retorted Alister in between heavy breathes. "Well then let's see your magnificent diving skills. Go on." Alister stopped again to breathe some more.

Kaden pointed his right arm at an overhanging tree branch and launched his Swingshot grapple into it before jumping off the cliff and swinging over to Alister position with a graceful landing.

"I should've had him with the first grenade." Alister continued. "He's wearing an extra strong anti-trauma helmet. Guess he doesn't like headaches."

"We should probably get moving soon. No telling who heard those explosions." said Kaden as he ran through combat protocols in his head. Alister smiled at his friend,

"After I get my prize." He rolled the unconscious student onto his back. "I went through all the trouble of dragging this guy out of water after all." Alister took firm grip of the small, level one orb in the metal pocket on their chest.

"You know you could have just left him in there." Kaden looked up at two hovering game cameras. "The tournament officials would have teleported him away before he drowned."

With more effort than Alister was expecting, the orb popped out and immediately turned bright red. They had both known that this happened to all personal soul's whose owner's were still in the game. It'd continue to glow for another half-hour until the brown Lombax's time ran out and he was teleported away.

"Yah, but then I'd have to go swimming for his soul." The two of them examined the small orb closely with shared awe.

"That," Kaden said to Alister without looking away from the soul. "or use your wrench's Bolt-grabber to magnetically collect it. Remember the rules said that the souls were made to work that way." Alister continued to smile at the glowing orb.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter now. That's one for me...where's yours?" he asked as he looked at the dirt covering Kaden's armor. "You look like you fought someone."

"Don't ask." replied Kaden as he turned to get a better look of the area they were in.

"But I already asked." pressed Alister with a curious grin.

"Then don't expect an answer." replied Kaden. "Come on. We've got plenty of water now. We still need to find a good place for a base of operations and some food supplies." he headed off into the forest. Alister shrugged and attached his prize to his armor before following.

Kaden was trying to map the forest's geography in his head. His first priority was to find an area that had a wide field of vision to spot incoming enemies. It would be good for when they needed to sleep and would have to take turns on watch duty.

He also needed a place that was good for traps. Somewhere with lots of foliage to hide things in and where any pursuing enemy could be lost if necessary. He'd prefer these two places to be nearby so they wouldn't lose too much time traveling between them in the next few days.

Finally was food. He and Alister had enough to barely last the next few days on thin diets since most of their storage space was filled Kaden's equipment. Plus if they found a good place with food in it then that would be another excellent place to trap other students. He had a small bottle of paralysis inducing liquid. A few drops in a local fruit and it would be an easy soul from anyone thinking they found a free meal.


	9. The Tournament Continues

It was the middle of the second day in the tournament and it was currently Alister's turn to be bait. Kaden yawned as he waited for his devices to pick up the sounds of Lombaxes running towards his position. He and Alister had found pretty much all the supplies they needed within the first day. They had food, shelter, water, everything that is...except for enemies.

Besides the one soul Alister had acquired, they had nothing to show for their efforts of scouting areas, gathering supplies, and setting traps. They were now taking turns wandering aimlessly about in an attempt to lure other students into their trap, but they were having no luck so far. If they didn't start collecting some souls soon Kaden was considering putting up signs telling other students their location.

A strong vibration snapped him from his musings as his equipment detected three separate signatures heading towards him. He scrambled up the tree he'd been sitting in to get a better view of the area. Soon he'd picked up three thermal signatures, all definitely Lombaxes. A deep echoing boom told Kaden that Alister had used a grenade to keep his pursuers off his tail while he lured them in.

A few seconds later Kaden spotted his friend's white furred ears through the trees and predicted which path he'd take. Jumping down to a lower branch he flexed his muscles and weighted his wrench in his hand. He then took hold of a vine and waited.

Alister burst through some low foliage, perfectly playing the part of desperately fleeing Lombax in trouble. At least except for the wide grin he wore across his face as he passed over the entrapment zone. Close behind two other Lombaxes chased him.

The one in front was a tan furred Lombax who wielded an Arc Lasher, which was an electrified whip that was great for stunning enemies. He also wore medium combat armor with extra shield plates and was obviously the main fighter of the duo, which worked out well for their trap. The other Lombax was brown furred and wore light armor. He carried a Stunbow, which was an energy crossbow modified to fire stunning bolts at long ranges. This student was constantly trying to get a bead on Alister with his weapon, but Alister's erratic movements never gave him the chance to line up a shot.

After Alister had cleared the trap's radius, the trap itself activated as it had been designed to. It would now spring on the next person that crossed it. The heavily armored Lombax, who was right on Alister's tail, ran directly into it and Kaden watch with satisfaction as the trap was sprung.

Half a dozen metal orbs, strung together with wire, jumped out from under the leaves where they had been hidden. Each one was magnetized and clung to the student's armor, ensnaring him in a metal net. When the orbs had jumped they had also unhooked a vine that was holding a log suspended above the ground. The Log, which was also attached to the metal orbs, fell. The counter weight pulled on the metal net, flipping its surprised victim upside-down and hoisted him up into the trees, causing him to drop his Arc Lasher.

The second Lombax stopped running and starred up at his captured companion with wide eyes. He was caught completely off guard as Kaden swooped in on his vine and landed a perfect Hyper-strike. The poor guy was out cold before he even realized what hit him.

Alister came walking back still wearing his huge grin. He stood next to Kaden and looked down at the unconscious Lombax at their feet.

"Just like we planned." Alister said jovially. Kaden bent down and pulled the souls off the unconscious student, he had two including his personal one.

"Well there's two more." declared Kaden as he stuck them to his armor. "Now for the rest," They both looked up at the struggling Lombax trapped like an insect in a spider's web.

He tossed around and grunted angrily, but all it gained him was a tighter hold from the wires around him. Finally he stopped and looked down at his captors.

"Hey," Alister yelled up to him. "Are you gonna give up your soul quietly, or are we going to have to take it the hard way?" As a response the upside down Lombax slowly shifted his body weight.

"Never!" he yelled before a laser blade shot from his gauntlet. He immediately began sawing through one of the wires wrapped around him.

Alister snatched up the fallen Arc Lasher and with a quick wind up, flicked his arm and struck the entrapped Lombax with the electro-whip. The Lombax shook with pain and muscle spasms as the electricity ran through his body. A few seconds later he was unconscious.

"I'll get him down." said Kaden as he hefted his wrench.

With careful precision he threw it at the vine attached to the log, severing it. The unconscious student fell with a thud and Kaden caught his wrench cleanly on its boomerang like return. Alister then set to work disarming the magspheres, eagerly anticipating his reward. Kaden was watching Alister proceed when he noticed something.

"Wait!" he shouted just as Alister was about to deactivate the master orb.

Alister stopped and turned to Kaden, who was staring at the fallen enemy. Alister followed his gaze to signs of movement underneath the unconscious Lombax. Kaden kneeled next to Alister and together they rolled their victim over to find one of the tournament flying cameras trapped in the net with him, its gravity manipulator working overtime trying to pull itself from the magnetic grip.

Kaden smiled at Alister, "I've got an Idea."

* * *

It was early on the third day of the tournament. After their first successful trapping yesterday, the duo managed to catch three more students before they had to return for the night. Both their armors were sporting quite a few shiny metal spheres now, but it was only the beginning.

They had made their camp out of a group of boulders whose layout allowed both of them to hide within. The camps position was on the edge of a large clearing. It allowed them to come and go through cover while limiting the ways an enemy could approach in cover.

Kadden sat next to the detection equipment, which now included a closed-circuit camera that Kaden had brought to watch over the field without having to stick his head up. He had spent most of his guard shift tinkering with the small remote vid-drone they had caught by accident.

As the sun began to rise he finally managed to hack the drone and sync it to his NID. He tried to access the other cameras and the tournament positioning system, but the whole network had changed its access codes the moment he'd begun hacking his drone. _That's the most advance school on Fastoon for you_, Kaden thought. He even noticed all the other vid-drones were keeping their distance from him. He wouldn't be able to capture any more in this tournament.

Kaden began his first test flight of the drone as Alister was eating his breakfast. With a projected holo-screen interface on his gauntlet, Kaden piloted the drone into their hideout and straight up to Alister. The unsuspecting Lombax barely spared a glance at it before he returned to his food. As Kaden had hoped, the sight of a vid-drone was already so much a natural part of the tournament that not even Alister suspected anything of it.

Kaden commanded the drone to fly straight into Alister's forehead and then do a few somersaults in front of his confused face. Alister swatted at the drone, but it dodged easily. He growled his annoyance and picked up his wrench. Kaden immediately flew the drone out of the rocky outcrop and directly into his hand. Alister showed up a second later, wrench in hand and stared at Kaden with squinted eyes.

"So you got your toy working huh? You could have just told me." He said with an annoyed tone. Kaden grinned back at him.

"Yah, but where's the fun in that?" he replied. Alister yawned as he began stretching in the sun.

"So, how's this thing going to help us in the tournament?" he asked groggily.

"Well, with this we'll be able to get a bird's eye view of our entire surroundings and since even you didn't know it was being controlled by a student, no one else will either. We'll be able to find and pick targets much easier this way."

"Then are we still going to the trapping area, or are we going to take some enemies head on for once?" Alister asked. Though he knew better, he sometimes wished Kaden didn't always want to do things the careful and calculated way and despite their relative success at using the trap, he truly just wanted to fight one-on-one and warrior to warrior.

"Head on of course." Kaden answered. "With this gadget we'll always have the element of surprise." Alister looked extraordinarily pleased at this.

"In fact," Kaden continued, "I think now would be a good time for us to use this." he held up a rectangular, metal box about the length of his forearm. Alister grinned, he was now even more pleased.

* * *

Less than an hour after finishing breakfast Kaden had found their next target. He and Alister watched through his arm mounted holo-display as the camera flew in close to a heavily armored, level two, white furred Lombax. She sat pealing a fruit while chewing on dried fish in a small alcove under a massive, jutting boulder. Kaden counted eight souls attached to her armor besides her personal one.

"So how do you want to do this?" asked Alister.

Kaden thought for a bit. Because of the location it'd be best to attack with some kind of long-range explosive. The rocky alcove she was in meant she could only be attacked from one side, but that also meant any concussive force would be multiplied. He made a decision (one that if he was honest he had already made back at camp).

Kaden took the forearm length metal box he'd brought and opened the top. Two rows of three tubes sat inside. Each one had a small cone shaped tip that stuck out. Alister rubbed his hand together. This weapon was one of his favorites among Kaden's inventions. He'd always hoped that if he begged long enough his friend would finally build a special one for him. Kaden would have made him one of the same design had he asked, but Alister didn't like the idea of having to get as many NID upgrades as Kaden to be able to control it. He preferred his brain remain as organic as possible.

Kaden unclipped a pair of small legs on the underside of the rocket pod. This particular weapon was designed for bringing heavy ordnance to the field with the versatility of a side arm. He connected the legs to his armor's special shoulder guard and leaned it back. The launcher sat comfortably on his shoulder and after a few seconds was linked to his NID. After a short calibration check, Kaden locked on to the coordinates of the rock alcove and with a thought sent two rockets screaming off into the sky. They both watched on the camera as the white Lombax sat eating her food, completely unaware that she was seconds away from a rude interruption. Her ears perked and she turned just in time to see a missile strike the boulder roof just above her and the ground at her feet.

It shockwaves kicked up enough dirt to completely cover the alcove in a smokescreen. Kaden and Alister were on the move a second later, running to catch the target before she could recover (if she could recover).

In his haste to get to the target Alister had lost his sense of caution. Kaden was the first to see the booby trap just ahead.

"Down!" he yelled the moment he saw it, before diving for cover himself. Luckily Alister's reflexes and trust in his friend meant there was almost no hesitation between the warning and his reaction.

He dove into a ditch just as an explosive device with a proximity fuse went off. A shockwave roared over Alister's back, but most of it was diverted thanks to the ditch. He stood up and looked around. When the dust settled they began moving again, this time with a sharp eye out for more surprises.

* * *

They had found and avoided two more proximity mines by the time they arrived at the alcove. The dust had settled and unfortunately the white Lombax was nowhere to be found. Her food scraps and some of her gear was all that was left behind.

"That's just great." sulked Alister. "She got away and now we're down two rockets." He had been sure that two of Kaden's rockets would have put anyone down completely. He turned and looked suspiciously at his friend.

"What?" Kaden asked at the accusing stare.

"You turned down the yield on those rockets didn't you?" asked Alister. Kaden looked incredulously back at him.

"You're saying this is my fault?" he replied.

"No, I asked a question. One you haven't answered yet." The two friends locked eyes. After a moment, Kaden averted his eyes. "Oh come on Kaden. Really?" Alister said as his suspicions were confirmed.

"Well the force was going to be multiplied by the alcove anyway. I didn't want blow her limbs off. My rockets are at the very edge of what is considered class four lethal. With the feedback from the rocks it would have measured at least class five." Kaden said in his defense. Alister shook his head.

"Unbelievable. I thought you were supposed to be nothing but logical. Obviously her armor was strong enough to withstand the blast and then some." Alister took a calming breath before continuing. "Come on. We can still catch her. She can't have gotten too far. I'm sure her head's still spinning and she's probably walking in circles."

"Hold on." said Kaden as he caught a glimpse of something through a crevice between the boulders to his side. He reached inside and pulled out a shiny metal orb. He then raised his wrench up into the air and supercharged its Bolt-grabber. With a hum of energy, seven more souls flew from all around and stuck themselves to the OmniWrench.

"Well…" Alister began, feeling much better about the situation, but still slightly annoyed, "she still has the one"

"Forget about." Kaden said. "She's a level two with only one soul left. Plus she might have more traps set and this time she'll know we're coming. It's not worth the risk. We'll have plenty more prey with this." Kaden finished with a gesture to the vid-drone floating nearby. Alister shook his head.

"Fine." he conceded. He never liked leaving something half-done, but Kaden had a point. Though, he had a strong feeling that his friend was still just being soft.

* * *

Kaden and Alister were regrouping in a large tree. It was the fourth day of the tournament and was watching his holo-monitor feed from the hacked game cam. Alister approached the tree and gave the greeting signal from somewhere below and out of sight, which Kaden returned. A few seconds later Alister himself appeared next to Kaden.

"What's the situation?" he asked, eager to hear about their next target. Kaden was actually observing something very interesting at the moment.

"Look here," he replied as he tilted his screen towards Alister. "Some level twos formed a hunting party. One member stays in the middle with a guard while the rest scour the area collecting souls. They always bring them back before collecting too many."

"That's a good strategy. How many are in the group?"

"Since I started tracking them I would say about seven, plus the leader and his assistant. That's how many different students I've seen working together so far. Their leader is wearing over a hundred souls of both levels." Alister whistled at the number.

"That's a lot of bolts, but they'll have to split their earnings nine ways."

"Maybe not," said Kaden. "The strategy is good because when they lose a member they only lose a few souls, but the remaining members aren't obligated to pay them a full share of the prize after the tournament is over. They could argue that getting disqualified means they didn't do as much work as the rest and didn't deserve as big a cut, if they even deserved a cut at all."

"If they lose enough members I say we go over there and help ourselves to that massive haul!" Kaden had thought about this already, but he still paused for a bit and weighed the option again before replying.

"Even if they lost all their members we'd still have to face two level two Military students. It would also make sense that the one carrying all the souls is probably their strongest fighter." he concluded. Alister looked a little disappointed.

"That's a shame, but I still feel like we should try it if they do lose all their partners. Have they lost any yet?"

"It's hard to tell since I can only see one area at a time. They've probably lost some though." He and Alsiter continued to watch as another student approached the leader and gave him three more souls. Both of them were getting soul fever from watching the leader add them to his stash.

As the student returned to the battlefield Kaden noticed something moving off to the side of the camera's aerial view. He focused the camera on it, but couldn't get a good look at it. He mentioned it to Alister.

"Well, follow the guy leaving and see what happens." he replied.

Kaden didn't want to leave the boss, and all those souls, but it wasn't like he actually planed on attacking him anyway. He ordered the camera to follow the unaware student that had just left the group's base and kept an eye out for whatever was moving through the trees.

They didn't have to wait long for a second student to appear. Kor was moving silently through the trees as he stalked the first student. He was wearing just over forty souls; seven of them were level two souls. But that wasn't what fascinated Kaden the most. He couldn't believe how fast Kor was moving. He was so close to his target that if he made a single sound he'd alert them, but even with his full suit of armor and his Malleus wrench Kor hadn't made a sound. The student had no idea he was being hunted and was now only a wrench throw away.

Kor waited for the perfect moment to strike. It came when his target had been distracted by a small rodent like animal that scurried out of a bush. Kor was behind the student before Kaden could blink. To his surprise though, Kor didn't land a critical blow to a vital spot, which would finish the fight before it started. Instead he paused to reach underneath the student's arm and rip out his personal soul before giving him a swift kick that sent him sprawling. Kadden had made the camera move close enough by now that its audio receptors could pick up conversation. Kor laid his massive wrench across his shoulders and held its handle in his right hand while his left held the soul, glowing red, in display to the bewildered student.

"You have thirty minutes." came Kor's grainy, half-artificial voice and he stuck the soul to his armor. "Try to make the effort of hunting you worth more than a single soul." The student looked furious, but also scared. Kaden understood. The legend of the Red Lombaxes notwithstanding, Kor himself was a terrifying adversary. He moved like a ghost and Kaden had witnessed firsthand how good he was with his wrench.

Either out of blind fear, blind rage, blind stupidity or a combination of the three, the student grabbed his wrench and charged blindly at his opponent.

Kor crouched slightly, but didn't move from the spot or prepare his weapon. To Kaden it looked as though the student's sudden charge may have actually caught Kor by surprise, but just as his opponent reached striking distance, Kor straightened back up like an uncompressing spring while also pulling down on his wrench's handle like a lever. This propelled the massive wrench into the air. With its handle firmly in his grip, Kor swung hard and carried its momentum perfectly to strike a terrifyingly accurate blow; wrench head to Lombax head.

The student went flying sideways, losing his helmet, and smacking into the ground before rolling twice from the momentum and laying still. The shattered pieces of his helmet were lying in the dirt around him. Kor swung the wrench back onto his shoulder and looked down at the fallen Lombax. He offered a small bow to his opponent before turning and heading back towards the group's camp with as much calm as if he'd been strolling through a park. Kaden looked at Alister who gulped loudly before meeting his gaze.

"I say we stay away from Kor in this event." Alister declared. "That's the eighth level two soul he's got and he took that guy down like he was nothing."

"That sounds like a good idea." Kaden agreed. "We might lose more than just soul orbs if we fought him." A small part of Kaden had actually wanted to meet Kor in the tournament and settle his small grudge against him. That part had died the second Kor's wrench likely broke the other student's neck.

The two of them watched Kor return to the base and stalk another student as they left.

"Why aren't they forming smaller teams?" asked Alister after awhile. "They have to know they're losing members by now." It was a good question. Kaden thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe the leader is letting them get picked off." Kaden suggested. "Only he and his guard know who's stopped showing up and if everyone made it out of the game he'd have to pay out in full to all of them. It's clever really. With all the members spread out they're catching a lot of other students quickly and at the same time loosing members. Ensuring a bigger cut for whoever's left." Alister shook his head.

"That's so deceitful." he spat in disgust.

Their camera-drone had been following Kor this whole time, but just as Kaden was preparing to see a similar situation unfold, the camera lost track of him again. He panned it all around the area, but couldn't find a trace. Kaden gained some altitude and began sweeping the treetops. He stopped when he found the unconscious form of the other student laying over a rock, his personal soul removed.

"Where'd he go?" asked Alister in confusion.

"Sure, because the camera screen I'm watching shows more than the one you are." Kaden replied sarcastically. He moved the controls to pan around again, but the screen didn't change.

"What's going on?" came another question from Alister.

"I don't know." Kaden said as he furiously entered commands with the camera controls. "Either I lost my connection to the drone or the school mainframe is trying to anti-hack it back from me."

Neither of these turned out to be true however. The camera was spun around to fill Kaden's screen with a close-up view of Kor's helmet covered face. His synthesized voice came in loud and clear.

"I have already tried to escape these cameras and have found that they always know where I am. To see a random one following me around and then search for me when it loses sight is very suspicious." Cracks began appearing across Kaden's screen just before being replaced by a wall static and then finally a _Signal Lost_ message. Both Kaden and Alister turned to each other with mouths open in stunned disbelief. Kaden gathered his composure first and disengaged his holo-screen before standing up.

"Well… I guess it's back to the old fashioned way." he said.


	10. The Tournament Ends

The tournament had proceeded well for Kaden and Alister and today was their fifth and final day. Since losing their flying eyes they returned to tracking each target on foot before attacking or ensnaring them. Between the two of them they had collected around ninety souls, ten of which were level two and worth twice as much as the others.

It had become increasingly rare that the they came across single students anymore. It was apparent to Kaden that teaming up was not only an acceptable part of the game, but likely the only way to survive. Kaden supposed there was a lesson about teamwork in that.

"Alright," Alister began with groan. "No more groups of five. That was our last one." He dropped to the ground after they had reached a secluded area and began to stretch out his aching muscles.

"It was also our first." replied Kaden shaking his head. "Groups of five might be the only ones left who are willing to come out of hiding at this point."

"Then maybe we should just join the latter and hunker down until the tournament ends." said Alister as he drained a canteen of water mixed with electrolyte powder and belched loudly.

Kaden thought about his words. Alister was probably right. The more souls they had the more they risked losing. They had a good haul now so it made sense to quit while they were ahead.

"Ok then. Let's head to position three. We'll cover our tracks and we should be safe there until sunset."

Kaden began drawing up a vision of what he wanted for their final base's defenses to be in his head. Position three was a location they had scouted with heavy cover and poor visibility. That was fine though, since they just needed to hide.

"What?!" said Alister in surprise. "You don't mean we're actually done do you?"

"Well yah. Wasn't that your plan?"

"Since when do we follow my plans? I was just complaining to relieve stress. We can't seriously stop now. We just got twenty-eight more souls in a single attack. All made possible by those mud traps of yours. We can take down any group with a plan."

Kaden was caught off guard by Alister's 180 degree change in opinion, but at the same time he knew he was right…they never went with his plans. Kaden had already made the decision to stop and under normal circumstances wouldn't go back on it, but after seeing the look on his friends face he made and exception. What was the worst that could happen?

* * *

Kaden and Alister had run vines all over a single spot on a trail in crisscrossing patterns and hooked around various roots and shrubs. Their ends were all tied to a single log that was secured in the air by another vine. It was a simple trap, but they were down to Kaden's last two Fission Cells. One of which was half dead and powering his basic suit operations now.

A second trap was setup just behind the first one. This was in case they were found by a group too large to fight even after the first trap was set off. A simple log swing was held up in a tree, the danger zone was at a spot on the path that was densely flanked by foliage. The vine holding up the log was looped down across the path so that it could be cut by the bait runner. Anyone with Lombax reflexes could easily avoid the log, but it would close off the way forward. They'd have to either dodge it by jumping into the foliage or run away from it. Either option would give whoever was being chased time to escape, so it was more of a diversion than a trap.

It was Kaden's turn to act as bait while Alister waited to activate the trap and then swoop in for the finishing blow. Surprisingly Kaden found his target pretty quickly, for the old fashioned way at least. He really missed his flying camera.

He had been walking around an open field for about an hour when he noticed someone moving on its edge. He pretended not to notice and started heading for the trap while letting the other student follow. He could see from quick glances that it was a level two student. Kaden was glad that it was only one, even if they were a level two. He and Alister would be able to handle them easily.

He pressed forward and was now almost to the trap. He waited for his stalker to catch-up and prepared to put on a performance where he would pretend to notice them, then run towards the trap. Hopefully the other student would pursue him straight into it. He spotted a glint of armor in the trees ahead telling him that Alister was in position and ready.

Kaden waited for his pursuer to make an obvious sound. As soon as a twig snapped loudly Kaden looked up at the enemy Lombax in mock surprise then ran for the trap. The enemy followed just as planned. Kaden passed the entrapment zone and stopped to watch his persuer get ensnared, but after the enemy student crossed the line for the entrapment zone nothing happened.

_What was Alister doing?_ Kaden thought as he turned and ran for the emergency trap. A grenade landed in front of him. Immediately he jumped off the path as a concussion wave erupted from where he would have been a second ago. As he hit the ground he rolled and came up with his wrench in hand and facing his opponent.

Kaden took a swing at the enemy's head, which they dodged. His opponent countered with a swipe of their own wrench at Kaden's legs. Kaden jumped back to dodge it and threw his wrench at their head. His opponent moved just in time to narrowly avoided the hit.

Seeing that Kaden was weaponless his opponent charged forward, preparing a heavy strike that would likely end the fight. Kaden reached out in a futile seeming effort to block the attack with his hands. Just as the finishing blow was coming, a mental signal from Kaden's NID sent a blast of sound erupting from the sonic disruptors in his gloves. Focused by the cup shape he'd formed with them, the sound waves were so strong they likely shattered his opponent's unprotected eardrums. The attacker dropped his wrench and put his hands to his ears, trying to stop the piercing wail that assaulted his senses. The noise stopped and Kaden immediately delivered a swift combo of punches to the student's head and kick to his gut.

The Lombax fell to the ground unconscious. At first Kaden had thought that they might have been faking due to relative ease with which he'd been taken down, but it was soon clear that they were not getting up. When he was sure that they was actually incapacitated he let out huge breath of relief and allowed himself a feeling of triumph.

However, Kaden was disappointed a moment later when he noticed that the enemy student had almost no souls besides their own. At this point in the game they should have had way more souls than that. He must have lost them in a fight and managed to get away. After closer examination Kaden also saw some pretty heavy dents in the student's armor. They indicated that the student must have been in bad shape before finding Kaden and had probably been desperate to regain a few souls before the tournament ended. Either way Kaden removed all of their remaining souls from their armor, starting with the personal one.

Kaden began walking back to the first trap and was seriously debating about not splitting the paltry few souls he got with Alister. After all, he'd failed to trigger the trap, forcing Kaden to fight the level two student by himself. Except that Kaden couldn't find him. He was at the trap site and whistled out their safety call, but didn't receive a response.

There was metallic clink from just ahead and Kaden hit the dirt hard to avoid something heavy and metallic flying his way. It buried itself in a tree behind him. He turned around and felt his heart stop when he saw what it was.

A five foot long Malleus Wrench stuck out of the tree trunk with its head buried. Kaden's heart rate then accelerated as adrenaline once again pumped through his veins. He knew there was only one person with that wrench. He turned to look down the path and sure enough a red armored Lombax was walking calmly down it toward him.

Kaden was surprised that anything could draw his attention from his dire situation, but there was. Over 200 souls covered Kor's armor and almost half were level two. They flashed brightly as the rays of light leaking through the trees' canopy bounced off them. Kor stopped walking a few meters from where Kaden now stood, just shy of the entrapment zone. He spoke in his usual synthetic voice, which was terrifying in Kaden's current situation.

"It would seem that you still lack awareness." Kor began as if addressing someone he hadn't just attacked. "If your prey is wounded then there is a good chance that another predator is already hunting it." Kaden realized that the player he had just taken down was probably injured fighting Kor and now Kor was after him. "I would have thought you'd be more cautious after losing your flying toy, but I guess not." Kor continued. Kaden's eyes widened and he stared at Kor in disbelief.

It was hard to accept that Kor had caught his camera in the first place, but there was no way he could have know who was operating it. However impossible it seemed though, he knew and that meant Kaden once again couldn't explain something.

Kaden began analyzing the situation with a forced calm focus. Kor didn't have his weapon anymore, but he wouldn't have thrown it away if it left him completely unarmed. He was also just a few feet from the entrapment zone. The question was how could he trigger it and keep Kor in the necessary position. His sonic disruptors would also be useless because Kor's ears were tucked into his old fashioned helmet. Kaden stopped to respect that a new trick of his was rendered useless by an old piece of technology. He noticed something in the forest and with it made his plan. He switched his last Fission Cell to full charge and stood to face Kor. Kor tilted his head in what Kaden now assumed was a sign of amusement.

Kaden charged with his wrench low and swung up when he was in range. Kor easily dodged and swung a quick jab to his gut. Kaden jumped back, knowing beforehand that his first blow would never make contact and now looked closely at Kor's fists. On each knuckle he could see a light glow and he recognized them right away as Impact Drivers.

Impact Drivers were perfect for this game as they were lightweight and could do great damage if they ever connected. The drawback was that the wielder must essentially be able to land a punch in a battle that usually involved ranged weapons. Kaden doubted it was a concern for Kor though.

Kaden threw his wrench and watched Kor dodged it, once on its away flight and again on its boomerang like return, before catching it again and dropping back into a stance. Kor closed the gap and took several swings, but Kaden dodged, all the while drawing him into the trap. Kaden usually fought hand-to-hand by predicting his opponent's moves like a chess game, but Kor was moving so fast even his mind could barely keep up. His only reprieve was his wrench, which he used to block many blows that were almost to fast to see.

Kor stepped into the exact position Kaden had hoped for and he threw his wrench in a wide angle that just missed Kor and spun off into the air, but it cost him. Kor landed a direct hit to Kaden's stomach, knocking the breath out of him as the Impact Drivers sent shockwaves of pain into his armor, muscles, and organs. In the same motion, Kor grabbed Kaden by his armor's collar and lifted him off the ground. Kaden had put a few of his specially designed Kinetic dissipaters into his armor for safety, but the level of pain he felt now was on a scale completely above what he had expected. Still he smiled through it, as he watched his wrench curved up and headed for the master vine holding the trap in place.

Kor saw Kaden's look of accomplishment and before even fully turning to face it, he had whipped out a small _Gemini _pistol from a holster in his armor with his free hand and shot the wrench off its trajectory. The shot had been perfect, just barely stopping the wrench short of its target. Kor held Kaden in the air with one arm and the steaming pistol in the other.

"A trap?" Kor said without turning back to Kaden. "And very well done too. I wasn't even aware of it until just now. It's a good thing I caught you by surprise or else you might have been a threat." Kor turned to face Kaden. Satisfied at having foiled his plan, but Kaden hadn't removed the grin from his face.

Kor looked down to see one of Kaden's hands laying flat against his red armored chest, the other gripped around the arm holding him up. With a simple thought Kaden sent every single volt of electricity his Fission Cell could generate pouring out of his gloves and into Kor's armored body.

A howl of pain split the air as it was transmitted through his helmet and sounded like the roar of some horrible, mythical monster. Through his muscles spasms he dropped Kaden who immediately jumped backwards. A second later Alister cut the main vine, causing around thirty others to shoot out from the trees, loop around Kor's body, and pin him to the ground before going taut.

"And where have you been?!" shouted Kaden with a large mix of exhaustion, adrenaline induced excitement, relief, and just a hint of self-satisfaction. Alister ran from the bushes that he'd been hiding in to stand next to Kaden with his eyes still on Kor.

"I noticed him tailing your guy from up in the trees. I figured the best thing I could do was to hide and wait for an opportunity to strike." Kaden wanted to be mad because of the terror that ran through him after finding himself face to face with Kor. He couldn't however, based on the simple logic that Alister's actions had made it possible to achieve victory. Kaden's Fission Cell beeped to alert him that its power reserve were drained. Kaden looked down at his gloves and felt the intense heat from them before his faced cracked into a huge grin.

"Let's call that our last target." he said cheerfully though still trying to catch his breath.

"No kidding," replied Alister, "did you see how many souls he's got on him? I guess we know if he was able to take down that group or not!"

Kaden looked over at the restrained Lombax who was lying motionless on the forest floor. Smoke rose slowly from his armor. It was almost unbelievable, but they had actually beaten Kor. A few metallic tinged coughs came from the figure as it shifted slightly. It lifted its head from the ground just enough to look at the two friends who were now in a combat stance, but more from reflex than actual necessity.

"Of course," said a strained, metallic voice, "There are two of you." Kor's tone sounded self-reproachful and his breathing was heavy. Kaden walked closer to him in order to ask a question.

"How did you know I was controlling the Vid-drone?" he asked. Now that the rush of the fight was over the question had returned to his mind along with a slowly building feeling of triumph.

Kor looked at him and tilted his head slightly again. Kaden couldn't be sure if that was still a sign of amusement since he couldn't imagine anyone being amused in Kor's position. He didn't hear any humor or insult from Kor's next words…though they stung all the same.

"I didn't. Ever since I crushed that drone I've mentioned it to every Lombax I've come across that looked smart enough to control one. You were the first to know what I was talking about." Kor finished with a small grunt of pain.

_Well, at least the mystery was solved_, Kaden thought with a shake of his head. Kor was staring straight at him, his breathing had returned to normal and though Kaden couldn't see Kor's eyes, he felt them glaring at him now.

"What is your name?" Kor asked flatly.

Kaden thought of how weird the situation was. He roughly considered Kor to be the most dangerous student in the tournament, but here he was chatting away with him. Kaden was very sure of his trap. The vines wrapped around Kor's body were attached to a log that weighed at least seven hundred pounds. There was no way he could even move, let alone escape.

"My name's Kaden and this is Alister." he said finally with a gesture to the almost drooling Lombax staring at the souls on Kor's armor. Kor didn't break his gaze from Kaden.

"I have to thank you…Kaden." Kor began again. "Because of you I finally understand the warning I was given just before I left home." Kaden hadn't expected to be thanked in this situation, but was curious none the less.

"And what was that exactly?" he replied. Kor laid his head back down against the earth.

"I was told: '_B__e careful of the clever ones'_."

Kor erupted in a massive, blinding fireball. The blast wave knocked Alister and Kaden back a step and forced them to lose their balance. The heat was intense, but from the second he felt it Kaden wasn't concerned about himself at all.

The flames rapidly ignited and ate through the vines holding Kor in place and he was on his feet in an instant. Alister leapt forward and swung his wrench with everything he had. Kor caught the incoming wrench in his hand. There was a flash of energy as the wrench's micro-kinetic multiplier's energy clashed with the power field around Kor that was causing the air itself to ignite. Kaden couldn't imagine what the pain must have felt like on Kor's end to have caught an OmniWrench attack in his hand, but he was also wondering if Kor even felt pain. Regardless the block left Alister wide open and Kor punched him straight in the sternum. The force of the hit propelled Alister backwards into the bushes and he disappeared from view.

Kor stood and faced Kaden with glowing red eyes. His hands and armor were ablaze and the Impact Drivers on his hands glowed brightly with twice as much energy as before. Kaden had just enough time to think about how cool it would have looked at any other time before Kor charged.

Kaden was putting everything he had into dodging now. He knew the fight would be over if Kor made contact. He used his wrench to block some attacks, but couldn't keep up with Kor's ridiculous speed. Eventually one punch grazed Kaden's helmet, it wasn't a direct hit, but it had enough force to knock him down and crack his visor. He rolled with it and stood back up, his head spinning.

Kaden backed off a few meters and got into a defensive combat stance. He'd been slowly working his way to the second trap and was just a few feet away now. He stood ready to receive Kor's next strike. But Kor didn't move.

The flames around him slowly died out and the heavy glow on his knuckles faded as Kor stretched out his neck and flexed his arms and back. He reached over to the Malleus Wrench handle sticking out the tree to his right and yanked it free in a shower of splintered wood. Kaden had forgotten about the wrench, now things were more complicated.

Kor swung his weapon up and across his shoulders in his usual pose while looking back at Kaden. He lifted his left hand and showed Kaden a single, brightly glowing, red soul.

Where at first there was confusion soon there was a deep feeling dread as a heavy weight dropped in Kaden's stomach. Slowly he looked down at his chest to confirm his fears and saw that the tiny seat where his personal soul should have been was empty.

"You put up a good fight, but I think it's time I ended this." said Kor. Signs of satisfaction and exhaustion were evident even in his metallic voice. "You see, Inferno mode is very taxing and if I were to be caught by whatever trap I'm sure your luring me into, I wouldn't be able to escape this time." Kaden tightened his grip on his wrench as cold acceptance worked its way through him.

"I'll get that soul back in less than thirty minutes!" Kaden snarled, but he didn't actually believe it. Kor laughed with a sound that was both cheerful and horrifying.

"I don't doubt that you would find a way to get this back given thirty minutes, but you don't have thirty minutes." Again Kaden's confusion slowly turned to realization. Kor hadn't attached Kaden's soul to his armor yet. He was going to hold it in his hand and wait five minutes until it deactivated, causing Kaden to be disqualified.

"If you let that soul deactivate, it will be worthless! You won't get any prize money for it!" Kaden yelled back, panic slowly creeping into his voice.

"That's true." replied Kor thoughtfully. "Consider it an honor. I value one soul to be worth much less than the risk of fighting you for an extra twenty-five minutes." At that Kor spun and took off down the trail.

Kaden immediately sped after him, racking his brain for a way to beat him in less than four and half minutes. Alister appeared, running alongside Kaden, a moment later. His chest armor was dented, but he looked to be recovered for the most part.

"What's going on?" said Alister. The pain in his voice was noticeably. "We really gonna chase him?" Kaden tapped his personal soul slot and Alister's eyes grew wide. "Well that's bad. Do you at least have a plan?" Kaden thought a little longer and looked Alister straight in the eye.

"Corrupted Soul." said Kaden sternly.

Alister smiled and veered off into to the woods. Kaden and Alister had been hunting in this area of the forest for days so they knew all of its terrain. They could figure out which path Kor would probably take and with any luck enact their plan before time runs out.

* * *

Alister burst from the forest onto the path just behind Kor. As predicted, he had taken the route leading to the rocky hills. It was an area full of boulders that formed a natural maze. It suited someone so confident in their ability to fight in close quarters.

Alister threw his wrench at the faster Lombax, hoping to slow him down a little as the gap between them grew. To Alister's surprise his wrench actually connected with Kor's shoulder, causing him stumble before recovering and sprinting on. Kor's confrontation with Kaden must have taken more of toll than Alister had thought. Kor turned to look at his pursuer, but kept running until reaching the rocky outcrop on the edge of the forest.

Alister ran in after him and was immediately greeted by a swinging Malleus wrench. He dove and seamlessly dropped a grenade, before rolling back up and running behind a rock. The stun grenade went off, but Alister knew it wouldn't be enough to stop his opponent. He darted trough the outcrop and stopped behind a random boulder. Alister reached into his weapon holster and pulled out a couple of large green capsules. He waited for the sounds of movement and jumped out to attack.

By the time he saw his target he'd already thrown the capsules at a surprised looking Brown Tree Ape with scars on its face. The capsules exploded on contact and a massive cloud of green smoke filled the air. A moment later the gas turned to foam as it mixed with the oxygen in the atmosphere. It held half the creature's body in a giant green blob as it howled in surprise and frustration.

Alister reached for more capsules, but immediately had to duck as another swing from a Malleus Wrench obliterated the rock he was standing next to. He dropped a capsule when he dodged the attack. It burst and vaporized into another green cloud. Kor barely had time to dodge the gas. Much of it gathered on his wrench and immediately coated the head in a foam skin. Kor looked at the foam covered weapon and dropped it after seeing something else. Alister had accidentally covered one of his legs with gas in his attempt to dodge Kor's attack. He stood with one leg held fast by green foam to the ground and his back to a rock.

Kor looked at him and tilted his head slightly. He slowly began to walk forward. Alister could see Kaden's soul in Kor's hand. He only hoped there was enough time left. Alister swung his wrench when Kor was in range, but Kor easily caught his arm while delivering a quick jab to his gut. As the air burst from Alister's lungs he dropped his wrench and grabbed his stomach.

Kor reached up and yanked Alister's personal soul from its slot. He then backed up slowly, showing both the red souls to Alister as he did.

"What no comment for me? Am I not worth talking to?" panted Alister with anger. With his free hand Kor drew his second _Gemini _pistol and pointed it at Alister. "Fine then, but Kaden has something he wants to say."

Kor spun around to see Kaden standing just a few meters away, holding something in his hand. Kor pointed his pistol at Kaden, he knew there was less than a minute left before the soul deactivated. He only had to hold out until then.

Kaden held the remote detonator in his hand up in the air and said, "Hands off." as he pushed the arming button and pulled the detonation trigger on the controller, the round object Kor had just pulled off Alister exploded in his hand, blasting away Kaden's soul as he grabbed his wrist in pain.

Alister immediately broke free of the inconsequential amount of foam holding his leg and dove for the soul. He caught it and tossed it to Kaden. Alister then pulled another red glowing soul off of the corner of his armor. He and Kaden looked at each other while holding up their own soul with wide grins of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Kaden had made a small explosive that looked identical to a soul from one of Alister micro-concussion grenades and a soul that had been deactivated when they found it. It wasn't enough explosive to do serious damage to an armored hand, but enough for a good distraction. Getting it to turn red when it didn't receive a magnetic signal was the trickiest part. Alister had stuck it to his personal soul slot with tree sap (lo-tech but effective). Kaden reached up and placed his soul back into his own personal soul slot and the two friends turned to Kor. Now that Kaden had his soul back and they stood with a two-to-one advantage over Kor, they were feeling confident enough to take him down.

There was a small clack on the ground at Kaden's feet. Kaden looked down to see a glowing red soul rolling across the rocky floor. He also noticed that there was no soul in his personal soul slot. He urgently grabbed it and put it back, but it simply rolled out again. Kaden didn't know what was happening. His mind desperately searched for an explanation, but he couldn't find one. He couldn't understand what was going on. He didn't have an answer and he felt a familiar sensation begin to creep over his mind.

Muffled laughter came from the kneeling red armored Lombax that pulled Kaden from his mental spiral. Kor slowly rose to his feet and tapped on his helmet's right cheek twice. Slowly the grill that made up the helmet's breathing apparatus parted just enough to allow access to the mouth. Two rows of viscious fangs curved to form a huge sinister grin and made a terrifying site, but Kaden didn't even notice them. The only thing he could see was the brightly glowing soul held between them. Kor reached up and pulled it out as it started to blink. The grill slid back over the wide shark-like smile.

"You do not disappoint, Kaden." Kor said with satisfaction. "But I will not underestimate you twice." The red orb began flashing faster.

Kaden made a move to go for it, but it stopped flashing and went dark. The personal soul slot on Kaden's armor beeped loudly, like a flat-line signal, and all the souls attached to him demagnatized and fell to the ground. Kaden looked at Alister whose face reflected his own stunned expression. Then Kaden turned to Kor with his eyes filled with anger before his world disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Kaden punched the class wall to the shift chamber he was standing in. A large crack ran up the transparent material, splitting off several times.

_Almost five solid days!_ Kaden's thought echoed in his mind. For five days he'd spent every waking moment and some sleeping moments desperately trying to defeat enemies and win the game. All that effort, all that planning, all wasted. But that wasn't even what bothered him. Not only was he and his friend both beaten single-handedly by another Lombax their own age, not only did every trick he could think of fail, and not only did he waste expensive supplies and equipment, worst than all of that put together, Kaden had been outsmarted and that was something that had never happened before.

The cherry on top was that he now had to pay for a broken window, at least that's what to look on the instructors face through the cracked glass was telling him.


	11. Down, But Not Out

It had been over a day and a half since the Military Student Evaluation tournament had ended. In that time Kaden has only ever left his room to eat occasionally. As a participant of the tournament, he was given a temporary leave from classes and neither of his friends Alister or Sorana, had heard from him since he left the med-hall. This was the reason Alister now stood outside Kaden's door, wondering how to proceed.

Alister had never seen Kaden as outraged as he was after the tournament. Alister himself had managed to escape by turning and running the second Kaden disappeared, though Kor had managed to loose a few rounds at his tail before he got away. At that time there had only been a few hours before the tournament itself was set to end. He had later met Kaden in the academy hospital, all students were required to go there after either being disqualified or at the event's conclusion for a safety examination.

In the hours between their separation and reunion Kaden had calmed down outwardly, but Alister could feel the chilling storm of his anger just under normal perception. Kaden had assured him that he was fine, so Alister had taken him at his word. That had been the last time he'd spoken to him until now.

Alister had hoped to simply talk to him when combat lessons resumed, but Sorana had kept pressing him to meet with Kaden sooner. She'd of course tried linking Kaden through his NID, but he never answered. That either meant he was ignoring her or using his NID's full computational power. Alister couldn't believe it'd be the former so he assumed Kaden was just working on something, but for almost two days?

Eventually Alister knocked on the door. After waiting about a minute he knocked again, much harder this time. After several more minutes of this with still no reply and Alister's patience wearing thin, he proceeded to slam on the door.

"Kaden!" Alister yelled at the sealed portal. "I know you're in there. Open up already."

"Is there a problem?" Alister turned to search for the source of the question and found an extremely handsome white Lombax standing to his side wearing a friendly smile.

"Yah, my friend locked himself in his room and won't answer." Alister answered.

"Oh, a friend of Kaden's huh? Well that's good timing as I was just about to visit him myself." Varick waved his hand over the door panel and after it displayed the words 'Override', the door slid open.

The main lights in Kaden's room were turned off, but it was still bright inside. The walls and floor were covered in holographic screens projected from an orb on a stand in the room's center. The Lombax himself was lying on his bed, staring at a holo-projection on the ceiling.

Kaden waved his arm in different directions and the video of the tournament above followed his commands. Alsiter watched as the projected depiction of Kor stopped behind a boulder, placed Kaden's glowing soul in his mouth before pulling his own soul out of the cradle on his chest. He then replaced it with a random soul he'd already collected and jammed it in place with some sticky slag left on his armor. Kaden waved his arm to his left and the video reversed until he put his arm down and it replayed the clip.

"Kaden." Alister called out clearly. Kaden didn't respond. "Don't ignore me Kaden!" he tried again, there was still no response. "Kaden if you don't answer me I'll…." Varick placed a hand on Alister's shoulder.

Alister turned to look at him and watched as he reached towards the room control panel and pushed a series of icons on it. Kaden's bed suddenly flipped sideways, sending him sprawling to the floor before it folded itself up into the corner.

Kaden shot to his feet looking angrily at Varick. Alister felt the anger emanating from him, but it disappeared once he noticed Alister standing at the door as well. Kaden's eyes went out of focus, as they did whenever he accessed his NID extensively.

"What's up?" he asked casually when his eyes return to normal.

"'What's up'?" repeated Alister. "I've been knocking on your door and calling your name for the past ten minutes!"

"Oh, sorry about that." said Kaden. "I had my ears turned off while I played audio through my NID directly. So, what'd you need?" Alister stared dumbfounded at the oblivious Lombax.

"I needed to know why you've been locked in your room since the tournament. Sorana's been worried that you've gone crazy, well more than usual at least." Kaden's ears perked for a moment before he answered.

"I told you I was fine. I've just been busy." he insisted. Alister looked around the room. Every projected picture was a paused video from the tournament and all of them were focused on Kor.

"This doesn't look fine." Alister said with a gesture to images on walls. "You've become obsessed over losing the tournament." Varick cleared his throat to interrupt.

"Many times obsession is merely misunderstood determination." Alister looked at Varick as he took in his words, still wondering who the Lombax was and why he was here. He turned back to Kaden and continued speaking.

"What are you even hoping to do? What does staring at these videos accomplish?" he asked.

"I'm going to find his weakness." Kaden answered resolutely. "Then the next time we meet I'll be ready."

"Forget it!" Alister replied somewhat aggressively. "He's unstoppable. You should know after watching the recordings. Apparently Kor put three students in intensive care during the tournament. They were so badly injured that they had to be teleported out before Kor even had time to collect their souls."

"But he was awarded them afterward." Varick interrupted again. He was now sitting at Kaden's desk watching the conversation with interest. Alister turned to look at Varick again, who shrugged, "Just so you know. He did earn them after all." Alister looked like he was about to ask something, but Kaden spoke first.

"How can you say that? I would have thought you of all people would want to get back at him." Kaden turned his head slightly in a gesture towards a projection depicting Kor engulfed in flames with his fist in Alister's gut. Alister winced as he saw the picture and remembered the feeling.

"Of course I want to take him down, but he beat both of us together. The only thing we can do is continue with class and train harder. Even if he did have a weakness we're probably not even strong enough to take advantage of it." Kaden couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd seen Alister lose before and he'd always been eager for a rematch no matter who it was. _What was different about this time?,_ he wondered.

"Maybe," said Kaden, "but my strength isn't solely in combat and skill. I don't improve with just effort and training. I'll design something, some kind of weapon or tool, and then I'll take Kor down, just you wait. I just need...the right materials." Varick suddenly perked up and clapped his hands together.

"Excellent. That's what I like to hear, determination. What you need Kaden, is a sponsor." Varrick stood and headed for the door. He turned to look at the other two Lombaxes that were staring at him in confusion and gestured for them to follow. "Come on. We're going to see a friend of mine."

Kaden and Alister followed him down the hall. Alister only followed because Kaden did, Kaden was doing it because he was now used to just following Varick without receiving an explanation beforehand. On their way to the grav-lifts Alister leaned over to ask Kaden something.

"Hey, who is this guy anyway? Is he your mentor or what?"

"Yah, he is." he answered. "His name's Varick. He's the president of the Science Field."

"What!" blurted Alister, a little louder than then he should have. A few students in the hall turned towards them at the sudden noise. Varick himself didn't pay it any mind. "Why didn't you tell me one of the most powerful students in the academy was your Mentor?!" Kaden, just now realizing he'd never actually told Alister about it, shrugged,

"I didn't think it was that important." Alister shook his head in astonishment.

The three of them arrived at the Grav-lifts and Varick entered the floor level. They boarded the grav-lift in silence and it took them to the fourth level of the shopping section. Kaden hadn't been down to this one yet. He'd been able to get all the supplies he needed for the tournament on the third level and used his classrooms as workshops to make them.

They all exited the lift and were greeted by a couple of large security bots that stood on either side of a gateway. A Lombax outfitted in the blue armor of the Nova Academy Security Administration stopped Varick as they approached and got him to press his hand to a digi-pad while a large sensor on the ceiling scanned him. Kaden and Alister copied Varick's process, but Varick had to give special permission to Alister since he was from another field. They then followed him through the gateway.

On the other side was a room that didn't look anything like the mall above. It looked more like a shipping warehouse. Stockpiles of materials and crates covered the floors and lined the walls and shelves. Lifter bots of all different sizes roamed these lines, picking up and dropping items seemingly at random. After walking for a surprisingly long time, Varick turned and climbed some stairs that led into a very wide hallway. Several doors lined one side of the passage, but the other side was one massive window.

Kaden and Alister both caught their breaths. The window overlooked an entire starport! Large freight shuttles were dropping off or loading up tons of supplies and coming or going through one of several massive doorways even further back. Clearly the port doors were cut out of the side of Mt. Super Nova. Kaden was beginning to wonder how much of the mountain was actually made of rock.

"Ah, here he is." said Varick as he spotted a brown furred Lombax who was talking to himself while staring out the window.

At Varick's words the Lombax turned and told an invisible person that he had to go and to expect the plans to proceed normally. He blinked hard (a sign of someone ending a NID direct transmission) and spread his arms in greeting.

"Varick, what brings you down here? I can't imagine it's business after that upset during the tournament."

"Ha," said Varick, "well you're correct that I don't have the bolts to smelt at the moment, but I do have something that may interest you." He turned to introduce Kaden.

"Mercatus, this is Kaden. He's my protégé for the time being. Kaden, this Mercatus and he's one of the best businessmen in the academy." The brown Lombax grinned wide at the compliment and reached out to shake Kaden's hand.

"Pleased to meet you." he said as Kaden took his hand. "I saw you fight in the tournament. Sorry about the ending. It was a great show though."

"Thanks…I guess." Kaden replied.

"Ha, well I wouldn't expect you to be happy about it. And this?" asked Mercatus as he noticed Alister standing behind Kaden. Varick also seemed to notice him just now.

"Ah yes, this is his companion, Alister Azimuth." Alister looked slightly surprised that Varick knew his name.

Kaden wasn't surprised, but it annoyed him how Varick seemed to know everything. He then reflected on how he himself had tendency to collect every scrap of data on anything or anyone he dealt with and tried to ignore the obvious similarity.

"Mr. Azimuth, it's an honor to meet you." said Mercatus with enthusiasm. This time both Kaden and Alister were surprised.

"Honor?" asked Alister curiously, though Kaden could tell that he liked it.

"Of course. There isn't an entrepreneur worth a crate of bolts that doesn't know about the Azimuth Trillium Mining Corporation. It's one of the most profitable mining operations in the galaxy."

"Oh." said Alister, deflating slightly.

"So Varick, what's this interesting thing of yours?" asked Mercatus, turning back to the president. Varick cleared his throat before responding,

"As you've just said, you've seen Kaden's fight in the tournament right? Well, what if I told you that almost all of the equipment he and Alister here used was designed and built by a single, brilliant Lombax who's now attending Nova?" Mercatus let out a low whistle.

"You made all that?" he said to Kaden with eyebrows raised. "I thought you must have been some kind of rich kid. I haven't seen tech that advanced in the tournament since Varick here participated." Mercatus smiled and turned to look at Varick before adding, "Though he is a rich kid who bought most of his gear." Varick didn't look too happy at Mercatus' words. This was probably the first time Kaden had seen Varick frown.

"Anyway," Varick continued, "Kaden here was just telling me about how he plans to build new weapons and gear to help him beat a certain increasingly famous Fuzzy. His only problem is that he doesn't have the supplies to do it."

"Ah." said Mercatus with understanding. "So you want to buy the supplies from me, is that it?"

"Not at all." said Varick. "I'm just introducing you two as a supplier with supplies and an inventor in need of them. I told you I don't have the bolts for any side investments at the moment. I can only offer my voucher for Kaden's skill. Though, you've already seen his handiwork." Mercatus rubbed his chin for a moment as he pondered Varick's proposal before addressing Kaden.

"The usual relationship between inventor and supplier is that I get the production rights to anything you invent and you get the resources to invent them with a royalty from the sales. We can discuss specifics in my office, but from what I've seen, investing in you could be a pretty profitable choice. If nothing else it would be interesting, but I'd like to hear your opinion on this? Knowing Varick you probably didn't know what you came down here for until I did, am I right?" Kaden nodded and took a moment to ponder the proposition himself.

He didn't like the idea of selling his inventions, but without materials and tools, there was no way he could build a weapon strong enough to take Kor down on his own. On top of which, he had spent almost all the allowance his parents had given him on materials for the tournament. Most of the past day had been dedicated to just calculating how he'd pay for equipment.

"Ok." Kaden said at last.I'll wait to see it on paper to be sure, but it sounds fair. I'm in."

"Excellent." said Mercatus. "I have to meet with the dock master for now, but how about we meet this evening to discuss the contract?" Kaden agreed and exchanged NID link IDs with him, before he said good-bye and left.

"Well I'm glad things appear to be working out." said Varick, who was looking very pleased. "Just so you know, I'm also looking forward to seeing what you can do with adequate supplies. Now, I happen to need to check with the dock master as well. I'm expecting a rare shipment of Bogonese tree berries. They taste so good, they're worth the shipping charges for intergalactic transport." He then left Kaden and Alister to find their own way out.

As the two walked back to the grav-lifts Kaden's mind was racing with the prospect of being able to build anything he wanted. His mind had been filling with blueprints and designs for weapons and gadgets since the tournament like never before and he now had the ability to make them a reality. After noticing his facial expression Alister interrupted his thoughts.

"I know that look." he said. "You're about to lock yourself in your room again and go all mad scientist for next week aren't you?"

"Of course not!" replied Kaden seriously. "I'll need to get some food first." Alister punched him in the arm because he knew his friend was only half joking.

"First thing we do is show Sorana that you're alive. She still thinks you have an injury and that's why she can't get in touch with you."

"What?" Kaden asked in confusion. "I replied to all of her transmissions when I deactivated my NID's audio feed."

"Yah with a text only message saying you were fine. You know Kaden, you might have a big brain, but it's behind a really thick skull. Of course she's concerned when you don't answer a comm. link that's embedded in your head."

* * *

Varick caught Mercatus as he finished imprinting his hand and personal code on a digi-pad for a shipment about to be unloaded. He returned it to the dock master who then ordered the lifter-bots behind him to get to work.

"Ah, Varick." began Mercatus. "I figured you'd have something to say that you couldn't in front of your companions."

"Am I that easy to read?" replied Varick. "In any case you're right. I wanted to see if I couldn't convince you to give your contract negotiations with Kaden a little less severity."

"You want sponsor him secretly?" Mercatus asked. "I can't believe that, not with how much rumor has you lost on the annual Fuzzy race between you three heads. I'm amazed that 'A Step Ahead Adjunaris' would even make such a wager." Varrick smiled solemnly.

"Yes, a very rare occasion where two of Nova's leaders each got a Fuzzy worthy of an enormous gamble for Fuzzy Christmas." Varick sighed deeply. "No, I don't have cold, hard bolts on me, though I'd spend them if I could. I was hoping you'd do this as...a favor." Mercatus raised an eyebrow at him.

"A favor from the president of Nova Academy's Science Field." he said with wonder. "Now that does sound interesting, but why? What do you get from all this?" Varick turned and leaned over the railing to watch the lifter-bots move Mercatus's cargo.

"I'm sure you can tell already that Kaden is a brilliant young Lombax with more potential than this academy's seen in years, but brilliance can be a double edged sword. True geniuses are capable of so much more than even the toughest standards and unfortunately, they rarely have the motivation to attain the heights they're truly capable of. They're like immovable objects that reach the top and just sit there" Mercatus smiled as a puzzle piece fit into place.

"Is this about Kaden or your sister?" he asked while joining him on the railing. Varick nodded a few times.

"I can't do much about her. Even I don't have the power to move an immovable object. I've even tried to make Kaden think the whole academy was out to get him from jealousy." Mercatus laughed.

"You know that didn't work with her either. She just buried everyone else and left them eating her dust. What is she now, a level five?" he said.

"She's a six now." Varick corrected him. "At the very least she isn't letting her grades drop from boredom. That's all I can hope for her now. This time however, as if by destiny, Kaden the immovable object decided to sit down in front of Kor the unstoppable force," Varick's face twisted into a huge grin. "and probably for the first time in his life, he's found himself lying on his back looking up."

* * *

Alister and Kaden arrived on the Main Lobby floor and walked through the lounge. They were headed for the entrance when they stopped at a headline written across the large holo-displays that Varick had called 'The Lists'. It said: 'Nova's Crimson Reaper Breaks Tournament Records'. Two Lombaxes sat above the headline at a desk like typical news anchors,

"With the final participant released from the med-hall just moments ago, which is the new record for length of a tournament hospitalization term, we are now officially allowed to disclose the scores for this year's MSE tournament and it was quite the event, wasn't it Dana?" said the white furred, male on the left.

"Yes Todd, according to one of the few level nine students still at Mt. Super Nova, it was easily the most exciting MSE in the past century." continued the brown furred, female on the right. "This marks not only the first time in the past decade that a level one student was among the top three scorers, but the first time in Nova Academy history that all top three spots were all taken by level one students."

They swapped back and forth while continuing their report.

Todd: "We'll display the full list of participants along with their scores after this broadcast, but for now let's go over those top three names. In third place we have a Nova Academy legacy student From the Military Field, Viscera Suraisu, who singlehandedly scored forty-two points."

Points for the tournament were tallied as one for every level one soul and two for every level two soul.

Dana: "In second place, also a Military Field student and heir to the mega-firm, Azimuth Trillium Mining Industries, Alister Azimuth finished with a total of 55 points. He's also the only student to have crossed wrenches with this year's first place winner and come out with his balls still attached."

Todd: "Why would you phrase your lines like that Dana?" Todd asked without changing his previous tone.

Dana: "Because Todd, if you had said the same thing, it would have been considered inappropriate and I know how much that burns you." Dana answered, also with an unchanged tone.

Todd: "Well, speaking of burning, first place winner Kor Vol'terran was on fire this tournament, in one case literally, as he scored a record shattering 376 points! The majority of his score came from an amazing upset when he ironically took down Eric 'Big Red' Anderson, who earned his nickname for his famous temper tantrum at last year's MSE tournament."

A picture of Kor standing over the leader of the group Kaden and Alister had seen with the camera-drone replaced the background of the news show.

Dana: "After swearing to win this year's tournament at the conclusion of last's, Mr. Anderson formed the largest collaboration of MSE participants since the famed 'Adjunaris Brigade'. Anyone who knows the tournament also knows the traditional cycle of new level one students going in headstrong and alone, only to be cut down by their level two elders who have already learned the error of that tactic."

Todd: "Of course, it's hard to make an argument for teamwork when clearly the one Lombax platoon now known by some as Nova Academy's own 'Red Reaper', from the famous holo-game of the same name, needed no help securing his place in the record books. The only close call came when top ranked Kor met with second place holder Alister Azimuth and his side-kick."

Dana: "I'm sure anyone who watched it doesn't need a reminder of how the Red Reaper of Nova broke free from a surprising trap, sprung by Mr. Azimuth who used his side-kick as bait, by using a notoriously volatile combat augmenter know as 'Inferno Mode'. I'll bet the only thing hotter than his armor is probably his toned, warrior's body underneath."

Todd: "Thank you Dana for the disturbing mental image. Join us later tonight for more examples on how not having a tail gets you the freedom to do whatever you want on holo-vision, right here, on The Solar Flare."

The news show was replaced on the holo-boards with lists of student names next to their scores, both their total and by type of soul. Kaden's name wasn't on the list since his score was zero. Alister fought back grin as Kaden stared at the holo-boards for a few moments.

"Let's just go to the art field." sighed Kaden after a moment.

"Yes my faithful sidekick, we mustn't keep the fair lady Bellit waiting." said Alister in imitation of an old holo-vision superhero. This time Kaden punched him in the arm.


	12. Days Way Past

Kaden and Alister sat at a table with Sorana in the cafeteria of the Art Field, but it looked nothing like it had the first time they had seen it. The entire area had been decorated to look like a fancy restaurant. White table cloths covered every table where groups, mostly dressed in fine garments, were served multiple course meals by equally finely dressed server-bots.

The two boys felt out of place in their casual clothes, apparently Alister had no idea about the dinner theme before he brought Kaden. Sorana was wearing a simple but elegant dress and her hair was tied with glass flowers on strings. There were other students wearing casual clothing as well so it wasn't as if they were breaking any rule. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only reason the two felt out of place.

The second Kaden had been within eyesight of Sorana, she immediately rushed over to him to ensure he was ok. At first there was relief on her face. She then asked him what he had been doing for the past few days and so he told her. Her expression soured subtly and she turned to Alister to verify that there had indeed been nothing wrong with Kaden, which he reluctantly did after giving him an irritated look.

The three sat to have dinner, but the atmosphere felt heavy. Even Kaden, who was usually oblivious to the feelings brought on by subtle tones and body languages of others, could feel the extreme weight. He knew from experience that this feeling meant Sorana was angry at him. He racked his mind and went over everything he'd done in the past few days and beyond to find something that would explain why she was upset. Try as he might though, he could find nothing. Swallowing to clear his throat, Kaden attempted to break the silence.

"So, uh, what are we having to eat?" he ventured cautiously.

"Eat?" she intoned back before narrowing her eyes at him. Kaden suddenly felt like a small rodent being eyed by some great serpent. "That's a good question. What have you been eating since the tournament?"

Kaden's expression stiffened as he tried his hardest not to show any emotion and prevent any hint of the truth escape. He had eaten mostly vending machine snacks and pizza for the majority of the time, even before the tournament. He had also eaten in a random cycle of gorging himself after forgetting to eat for long periods of time while focusing on his work. These were two habits of his that Sorana had strictly told him to avoid. He now wondered if this was the reason she was mad.

He held his silence while also holding her gaze. He didn't dare reply as he knew she would discern the truth from his words, regardless of what they were, but his silence was quickly becoming all the reply she needed. He didn't know what to do. He could feel the serpent of her anger coiling itself in preparation to strike, but he had nowhere to run.

"Are we ready to order." said a server-bot with an odd accent from Sorana's side. Kaden breathed out in relief. He felt as if a huge weight had been removed from his chest as he realized that he'd been holding his breath.

Sorana turned to the server bot and began speaking to it in another language. To Kaden it sounded like old Markazian, but he could guess from how she pointed at him and Alister that she was ordering for both of them. There was a translation feature in Kaden's NID, but he had to deep access it to activate the program. He didn't want risk doing that because Sorana would notice his eyes go out of focus as he did so and there was no telling how she'd react.

When she had finished talking the server-bot bowed and left. Her eyes returned to Kaden as she sat down and folded her arms.

"Well?" she pressed again. He still didn't know what to say and felt the trapped feeling begin to return as he stayed quite.

"Hey," Alister's timid voice broke into the wall of silence, "everyone's wearing some pretty fancy clothing. What's the occasion?" Sorana's gaze turned to Alister before turning back to Kaden.

"Didn't you know?" she replied with a sarcastic hiss. "We're celebrating Kaden coming out of his hole and granting us all the honor of his presence. It's a special occasion since any other day he's too busy to even answer the communicator in his head." Alister looked like he regretted his question. Sorana sighed and continued, "There is no occasion. The theme of the eating hall is determined by the master chef in charge of it. Today Frédéric must have been in a formal mood."

With nothing else to say, the veil of silence once again covered the table. Not even the sound of nearby dinners could pierce it until server-bots arrived with three large trays, each with a metal cover. They placed the meals on the table and removed all the covers at once.

"Bon appétite." one said in a synthetic voice, before leaving. Kaden looked with horror at his dish, which was nothing but a single bowl overflowing with Foedus beans.

In the entire galaxy there was no edible plant healthier than or as rich in vitamins, minerals and protein as the Foedus bean. Unfortunately it was also one of the most disgusting things Kaden has ever had the traumatic experience to taste. Its shell was tough like thin leather, its insides were filled with something that had the texture of pus mixed with jelly, and to top it all off there were tiny strands of fibers that grew throughout the bean that mimicked the same feeling of eating hair. Kaden hated them more than anything else. He even went so far as to dedicate a class project to proving that the horrible taste and texture of the beans were actually a defense mechanism to ward off herbivores.

Kaden glanced at Alister who was hungrily eyeing his steaming plate of meat heaped on top of meat with a small side of vegetables. Forgetting the tense mood entirely, he looked up with a grin at Kaden. The moment he saw Kaden's meal, the look of joy changed to one of horror, then to pity.

Kaden turned to Sorana who was calmly eating her meal without looking up at him. _She couldn't possibly expect him to eat this right? _he thought.

"Sor," Kaden began. He was still afraid of her, but his greater fear of eating the beans had given him the courage to speak. "There's… no way I'm going to eat this." Sorana stopped eating and raised her eyes to look at him without moving her head. Her stare felt like a knife, cold and sharp. His fear of the beans was now less than that of her anger.

"You'll eat them… or you'll regret it." she said threateningly.

Kaden turned back to the beans. He felt his stomach churn as he looked down at the bowl in front of him. Being forced to eat horribly disgusting yet healthy foods was not an uncommon punishment for Sorana to give him, but never had it reached Foedus bean level. He pierced one with his utensil and a small trickle of pus oozed out with a puff of air that made a fart noise. He tried to find a happy place in his mind, held his breath, and began to eat.

To any outside observer it might seem strange to see Kaden doing something that he desperately didn't want to do just because his childhood friend was angry. If there was one thing to know about Kaden, it was that he almost never did anything unless he wanted to, so then why was he being so obedient? Well, there was a good reason, for both Kaden and Alister fear her wrath.

Sorana's parents were both diplomats who dealt mostly with extra-planetary politics. Alister had known of the Bellit family long before he'd coincidentally met her through Kaden. They held a lot of influence with interplanetary exports and imports, so his families mining corporation (which mines all its material off-world) held their opinion in very high regard. Alister sincerely doubted that Sorana would use her family's power inappropriately, but he was still reluctant to cross her when she was seriously angry. It also had to do with how he saw her control Kaden, the single most uncontrollable person he'd ever known. Of course, that meant nothing to Kaden. When he'd first met Sorana he had been completely unaware of her family status. Even today he disregarded all forms of prestige and politics.

Sorana had known Kaden for as far back as he could remember. She was his first real friend and by far the closest person to him outside of his family. Because of this, she knew about every misdeed, criminal action, and act of misconduct that he'd ever gotten away with. She had enough dirt on him to put him in juvenile detention until he was old enough for regular incarceration and then put him away for a long time if she wanted to…and he knew it.

There was still a warrant out for the arrest of the 'activist hacking organization' that the 5th district police department suspected of repurposing their hover-car sirens to blast farting noises instead of the usual alerting wail. It had taken them a week to break the encryption and rewrite the command codes. A public announcement had to be made in the meantime, telling all civilians to treat the sound of loudly approaching flatulence as a police siren.

There was also a reward for any information leading to capture of the person or persons responsible for releasing a wild Grunthor from the Valmechan zoo. Nobody had been injured since Kaden had done it when the park had been emptied for some fancy rich person event that Sorana had mention to him, along with the fact that she didn't want to go. Since then she had been very cautious about explaining the details of her problems to him.

Those were only the highlights of Kaden's record that he could remember. Sorana on the other hand, remembered all of them. She had also proven several times that she could make his life much, much worse with a simple transmission. That wasn't even counting the act of simply telling his parents.

So…he ate the beans…

* * *

Sorana watched as the dumbest genius she'd ever known fought down spoonful after spoonful of his most hated food in existence. Even she felt bad about making him eat them, they really were disgusting, but this was the best way she could make sure he ate enough decent food to keep him alive.

She had hoped that living at the same school would give her the position to finally squash his horrible diet, but she soon found that Nova Academy was a city in itself. With the separation of the Art and Science Fields she'd barely seen any of him from the start of the year to now. Though, that reminded her that it had only been a few weeks and she was already resorting to force feeding him.

Since the tournament ended she had been deeply worried that he'd been hurt in the fight with Kor and was refusing to tell her about it, he had never ignored her transmissions before. Now she was reminded about how embarrassed she'd felt when Kaden had finally showed up, completely fine and that he'd simply become absorbed in some new challenge or obsession again.

She turned to look at him once more as he choked down another bean. His ears drooped and the look on his face made the most pathetic picture she could imagine. Sorana shook her head; she knew that she couldn't stay mad at him. After all, he was just being Kaden and it was her fault for jumping to conclusions. She was more angry at herself for getting so worked up over nothing. Eventually she'd feel bad for taking her anger out on him, but it was not now.

He'd always been like this, ever since she first met him when they were kids. It had been in the music room of the Basic Ed. facility. He had come running in and shut the door behind him. Apparently he'd lit several of the older kids' tails on fire. When she asked why he'd done it, he had explained to her that he was trying to find out if what the elders always said was true, that lighting a fire under their tails would make them move faster.

"It worked!" the tiny Kaden had said. "They ran faster than any of the elders or even the nursery-bots."

Sorana half-laughed, half-choked on a here food as she remembered his tiny facial expression. This drew looks from Kaden and Alister, which she immediately turned away with a well-practiced angry glare.

At the time she had thought he was the most clueless Lombax on Fastoon. That opinion had not changed in all the time she'd known him. However, she soon learned that there was much more to him.

* * *

"That's dumb." said the small, white furred Lombax. "Everyone knows that's just a saying."

"Ha, shows what you know." retorted the equally small, tan furred Lombax. "I just proved that it was true." Sorana stared at him in amazement before replying,

"Fine, whatever, now could you get out. I'm supposed to be practicing."

"No." Kaden answered flatly.

"Why not?" Sorana asked, confused by his response.

"Because the big, scary, lady is looking for me. She told me that if she ever caught me doing something bad again she'll tie my tail to the railing in the time out corner." Kaden explained. Sorana narrowed her eyes questioningly at the odd Lombax.

"Do you mean Miss. Anne the teacher?" she asked. Kaden nodded. "Then why would you do it if she told you not to?" Now Kaden stared at her.

"She didn't say I couldn't do it." He began. "She just said I shouldn't get caught." Sorana was dumbfounded by his statement.

"That's not what she meant!" she exclaimed. "She was telling you to stop being bad." Kaden smirked at her.

"Yah right, you didn't even know that lighting a fire under your tail could make you run faster."

Sorana covered her face with her hands in frustration. She felt like screaming. It wasn't just the kid's stupidity that bothered her, it was his unbelievable smugness. He was so arrogantly sure of himself. So sure that he was right and that she was wrong. She had never felt the urge to hit someone as bad as right now. After calming down, she pulled her hands away from her face to tell the intruding idiot to leave again, but he was gone.

"Whoa! Is this a Harmonixium?" Kaden asked from the other side of the room. He was sitting on a chair that was surrounded by various sized discs and a few electronic sound amplifiers.

"Don't touch that, it's mine." Sorana said angrily as she hurried over to stop him.

"You mean you can play this?" asked Kaden as he stared at her in awe. "That's amazing." Sorana was taken aback at the sudden compliment.

"Yes, well I haven't been playing it for long." she said as she felt her ego inflate. "But I am pretty good." Kaden looked elated.

"Can I hear it?" he asked expectantly.

"I guess." she began answering timidly. "If you really, really want me to." Replacing her desire to remove the intruder with the desire to be adored, she walked toward her instrument. Kaden got up to allow her to sit and he took a seat on a nearby stool.

"Wait," said Sorana as she was about to activate the Harmonixium, "I don't know your name."

"Oh, my name's Kaden." he replied. "What's yours?"

"I'm Sorana, Sorana Bellit." she said.

Sorana was used to people reacting to her last name in different ways, from surprised to terrified, but Kaden didn't even seem to hear it. He did something else,

"Sorana?" Kaden said with interest. "That's a pretty name."

Again Sorana felt the joy of being complimented. She nodded to him and activated her Harmonixium. An anti-gravity field activated around her and the instrument. The electromagnets began to hum as energy flowed through them and thousands of small metal beads floated into the air before solidifying into several long strands. Each strand then glowed slightly as it was wrapped in an energy field.

A Harmonixium was based off of the concept of the ancient harp or lyre instruments. The metal beads all had precisely measured magnetic properties so they all held a very specific place with respect to the instrument and adhered to each other to form the strings. When a bead was moved out of place the resulting change in the magnetic field would generate sound that was amplified by other parts of the instrument.

Sorana reached her hand up to one of the strings and felt the familiar, pressurized feeling of the energy field that pushed away any intrusive atmospheric particles. She plucked a strand to test it. Both she and Kaden watched as the beads vibrated, some separating to move freely about the field, and they listened to the deep hum it generated.

After a few seconds the beads reformed and stayed still. The Harmonixium was known as one of the most difficult instruments in galaxy to play. Besides being extremely sensitive to forces and where they're applied, the bead-strings made a different sound if you plucked it before it resettled, so the notes had to be played at the right time.

Sorana began to strum the cords in a practiced rhythm. Sound filled the room as she moved her fingers up and down while jumping from one cord to the next. She was only playing a simple song for now. She had been told that her skill was very impressive for her age and her parents had been so proud of her abilities. It was a huge source of pride for her. She closed her eyes and listened closely to the sounds that were made.

The true difficulty of mastering the Harmonixium wasn't in the first few notes. Even if the musician was a little off with the pressure or position of their fingers, they could still produce a similar sound. What was nearly impossible was repeating exact notes for the second, third, and beyond pulls of the strings. The beads reacted so differently to even the slightest mistake that it was nearly impossible to predict how they'd alter the next note. It was said that true masters of the Harmonixium didn't follow the set series of finger movements that made up the music sheets. They instead listened to the previous note and were able to perceive the difference in them so minutely that they could alter the next one accordingly. They also had to be able to do it for each strand individually in their head at the same time.

Sorana finished her song after a few minutes and looked up to see Kaden's stunned face staring back at her.

"Well?" she asked with a smile. "What'd you think?"

"It was…" Kaden began, "It was terrible."

Sorana felt as if someone had driven a sharp spike through her inflated ego and all her good feelings burst like a balloon.

"What?" she asked in the hope that she had just misheard him.

"That was really, really bad." he answered again in an astonished tone. "If you didn't stop I would have pulled my ears shut like this." He then grabbed the tips of his ears and pulled them down to show how he would have attempted to block out the sound. Sorana reached down and shut off her Harmonixium. All the beads were magnetically sucked back into their discs.

"That's it." Sorana said quietly as she felt something snap inside her.

With roar of anger she leapt at the obnoxious Lombax. Kaden squeaked in surprise and hopped off the stool to evade her. She chased him around the music room as he ducked underneath desks and chairs and other large instruments. She got her chance to catch him while he hesitated to crawl under a table.

Grabbing his tail, she pulled with all her strength to drag him out from underneath the piece of furniture. He yelped in pain and she let go in surprise. She had been told that pulling on a boy's tail hurt, but being a girl she couldn't know how much for sure.

Kaden stood up to face her, hands cradling his rear and his face scrunched up with anger. He looked on the verge of tears. Immediately Sorana felt bad about what she'd done. She didn't know what had come over her. There was just something about this boy that made her want to hit him.

* * *

Sorana broke from her memory to see Kaden try to sneak some of the beans into his pocket. Kaden still had a frequent tendency to make her want to hit him.

"Put them back." she said coldly without looking up.

Slowly Kaden brought the spoonful of Foedus beans back above the table and returned them to his bowl before he continued to force feed himself a couple at a time. Sorana rubbed the bridge of her nose. _Sixteen years old and attending the most prestigious Lombax school ever, yet he's no more mature than he was back then. _she thought to herself in frustration.

* * *

After a long few seconds of simply staring at each other Kaden finally spoke,

"I'm telling." he said bitterly.

Sorana gasped. She had never been in trouble before and pulling someone's tail was a big no-no. _Why was this happening? _she wondered. Her heart was pounding and she felt like she might cry at the thought of being scolded.

She opened her mouth to ask him not to tell, but he was already to the door. He reached for the handle, but stopped, sudden realization on his face. He slowly lowered his arm and turned back to Sorana.

"I can't do it." he said. "If I go to tell the teacher, she'll catch me." he finished gloomily.

A wave of relief washed over Sorana and she nearly fell to her knees from it. She was both tormented and saved by the strange kid's idiocy. It was very ironic.

"But your music still stinks." Kaden said stubbornly. A now familiar twitch of annoyance broke through Sorana's relief and she returned her attention to him.

"I don't care." she said in dismissal of him and with a great deal of effort. "You just stay over and be quite." She then turned to her instrument and began walking away.

"I mean it." Kaden said again, trying to taunt her. "You play really, really, REALLY bad." Sorana simply ignored him. "I bet even I could play better." She stopped in her tracks and turned back around, but when she faced him she was wearing gleeful smirk,

"Prove it." she said challengingly.

To her surprise Kaden's attitude changed completely and he rushed excitedly over to the seat by the Hamonixium like a child about to play with a new toy. Sorana reached him as he was looking around for the way she'd activated it.

"Like this." she said as she reached for the activation switch. She paused and looked up at Kaden suspiciously. "You better not break it."

"I won't." he replied. She then activated the instrument. When all the beads had settled, Kaden reached for the middle cord with held breath and simply brushed it.

A harsh screech erupted from the amplifiers and both Lombaxes pulled their ears down to block it out. When the sound had dissipated they both looked up.

"HA!" exclaimed Sorana in triumph.

"Wait. Let me try again." replied Kaden desperately.

He tried several more times to strum each cord. Each time resulted in a horrible screech or wail or crack and all the while Sorana's smile grew bigger as she watched him struggle and grow more frustrated. Finally he stopped and sat there looking defeated.

"Not so easy is it?" said Sorana happily. Kaden looked up at her and she was struck by his intense stare.

"Teach me." he said flatly.

Sorana was again dumbfounded by the sheer audaciousness of the boy's words. It was like he had completely forgotten everything he had done up until now. She then refused to help him, so he shrugged and continued to experiment with the instrument. He carefully tried different positions and strengths, only succeeding in preventing the noise from getting too loud.

Eventually she got tired of watching him struggle vainly, so she showed him the proper points on the fingers to strum the cords with and a few other simple tricks that she had been taught. Kaden listened intently and took in every word before returning to the Harmonixium.

Amazingly, he incorporated everything she had told him seamlessly and with a little more help was soon able to play the first few notes without too much trouble. After awhile Sorana realized that she really liked the feeling of teaching. She had been taught her whole life by people better than her and was now truly enjoying having someone more inexperienced turn to her for help. She was also impressed with Kaden's ability to focus, especially with her first impression of him.

The door to the music room burst open and a very large, very angry, tan furred Lombax stood in the doorway. She was breathing heavily and had scorch marks all over her apron.

"There you are." she hissed as she spotted Kaden.


	13. What Now?

As soon as Kaden registered the threat he immediately tried to run, but the elder Lombax was over him in a flash. Grabbing him by the scruff of his neck she lifted him high off the ground while grinning wickedly. "I have you now." she said gleefully.

"Let go." Kaden squeaked as he wriggled in her grasp. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did!" she shouted back. "I know it was you, it's always you. The weasels, the blue paint, the Suck Cannon, the Norig dung! It was all you and I know it was you this time as well." Kaden continued to struggle, but only managed to make the larger Lombax laugh at his efforts.

"Excuse me, Miss Anne?" said Sorana from the behind them. The elder turned to face the little Lombax and gasped,

"Oh, Miss Bellit. I didn't notice you there." she said clearly shaken. "I apologize deeply for this interruption." she continued with a small bow. "I'll get rid of him right away." She turned toward the door and started to leave.

"Wait." said Sorana. "Where are you taking him?" Miss Anne stopped and turned back around.

"Well, you see Miss Bellit. This little tyrant," she shook Kaden for emphasis, "attacked some of his fellow students, so I'm going to lock him away where he can think about what he did. Don't worry though, he won't be back to bother you ever again. I'll make sure of it."

"No!" Sorana exclaimed without thinking. Miss Anne looked confused.

"Miss Bellit?" she asked hesitantly.

"Kaden's my friend. You can't take him away." Sorana answered, though she was in as much disbelief of her own words as Miss Anne was.

"But Miss Bellit, he lit several other kids' tails on fire. I'm not sure how he did it, but I know it was him." she responded.

"Well he was with me all day, so he couldn't have done it." Sorana stated firmly. Miss Anne was stunned. She kept looking at Sorana then to Kaden and then back again.

"But…he." she mumbled as she tried to cope with the situation.

Kaden simply hung there with squinted eyes and folded arms, glaring at the elder. Carefully, Miss Anne lowered him to the ground.

"Um, then would you like me to stay and... keep an eye on him?" she asked Sorana cautiously.

"No. I need to practice and I don't like playing in front of adults." she answered. "My parents would be very upset if something prevented me from practicing." she added, knowing the reaction she always got whenever her parents were mentioned.

Miss Anne nodded in a consenting manner and walked towards the doorway. After one last, confused glance at Kaden, she left the room and closed the door. Kaden stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry in her wake and Sorana let out a huge breath of air before falling to the ground. This had been the first time she'd ever lied to an elder before and she couldn't even figure out what had made her do it. The rush of adrenaline she felt was a strange, new feeling.

"That was amazing!" Kaden exclaimed. "How'd you do that? She looked like she was going to wet her pants!"

"It was nothing." Sorana said, breathing heavily. "Elders are always like that around me." Though, while she had always noticed it , she had never abused the phenomenon like this before.

Kaden was overjoyed at the thought of having escaped punishment and in utter amazement at Sorana's ability to control the evil lady that was always after him. Sorana finally caught her breath and stood back up.

"Well then, let's continue." she said and began moving back toward her Hamonixium.

"Ah, I can't." said Kaden as he looked at the chronometer above the door. He had been enjoying his lesson so much that'd he'd lost track of time. "My parents will be here to pick me up and I still need to get rid of the hydro-gelatonium mixture I made before the mean lady finds it."

"Oh...ok." Sorana replied a little solemnly.

"Thanks for showing me your Harmonixium. Good-bye." Kaden said as he waved and ran out the door.

Sorana was then left alone. She had been used to practicing alone before, but for some reason this time felt oddly quiet. She shook the feeling away and returned to her instrument. She knew that she'd lost quite a bit of practice time and had to make it up.

She played her Hamonixium and practiced all the notes that her instructors had told her to. Eventually her butler came to pick her up and take her home. When asked about her day, she didn't mention Kaden. She had only known the odd Lombax for just over an hour, so she decided the best thing to do was to forget about the whole event.

* * *

Sorana arrived at the Pre-ED facility early as usual and immediately went to the music room to begin her lesson with her instructor. He was an old brown furred Lombax. He was also strict, but not mean. They spent a couple hours practicing a few strumming techniques that he'd been trying to teach her. After the lesson was over he got ready to leave.

"Your playing was excellent as always Miss Bellit." he said as he was packing up his hologram generator. "Just practice what I showed you and you should be ready to move on to the next lesson by the end of the week." Sorana didn't look very cheerful about the praise though. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Am I really good or are you just saying that?" she replied.

The old Lombax rubbed his chin as he considered the question. Sorana was a good student and she could play the beginnings of many difficult songs, but a musician is not a true Harmonixer until they're able to complete the song. Sorana had only been playing for just over a year. Even though her practice regiment was substantial, it would likely take her at least five years to be good enough to play a full song. That was just the nature of leaning to play the most difficult instrument in the Galaxy. If he'd let her play a song to its finish, it would likely sour by the end and sound horrible.

"Of course my dear," he began, "I've had many pupils and of them you are one the quickest learners I've ever had the pleasure to teach." He didn't want to hurt the feelings of a little girl, let alone his employer's daughter, but luckily he didn't have to lie about her abilities. She really was an excellent student. Sorana seemed to accept his words with a nod. "What makes you doubt you abilities?" he asked, curious as to why such a good student suddenly lost her confidence.

"It's nothing." she said dismissively. "I was just curious of what other people would think of my music."

"Is it because of that boy from yesterday?" he inquired as he made the connection.

"What?" replied Sorana slightly startled. "No, he, uh…" The old Lombax raised his hand to quiet her.

"The supervisor of the facility informed me of his visit and expressed her concern about how he might influence you. I'm told he is a boisterous trouble maker. You really shouldn't be fraternizing with children like him, do you understand?"

Sorana looked at her feet. It figured that the first kid her age that she hadn't been introduced to formally was 'bad'. She was given private lessons and taught basic education with a small, select group of kids like herself in a closed off part of the Pre-Ed. building. When Kaden had burst in yesterday, it had been the first time she had seen a student from the 'other side' of the school.

"Ok." she answered quietly. Even if Kaden had gotten away with lighting tails on fire, he would likely have gotten into trouble just for having trespassed into this wing of the facility.

"Good." her instructor said conclusively. "Now you should have the next hour or so to practice what I've taught you. I'll lock the door from the inside just in case. Promise me that if he comes to bother you again that you won't let him in, ok?"

Sorana simply nodded and her instructor left after making sure that the door could not be open by any non-staff member from the outside. She returned to her instrument and started to practice. She was more assured of her decision to forget about the strange Lombax now. Even if he did show up she wouldn't let him in. She had only nodded in promise, but she had still agreed. All she needed to do was focus.

After a few minutes alone however, she noticed a strange clicking noise coming from the ceiling. She stopped playing to listen to it clearer when a shower of sparks came bursting from the corner of the room. The falling spark trail moved across the ceiling until it completed a full circle. The disc of cut material disappeared and eight red dots of light glowed from the darkness. Sorana leapt from her chair and moved away from them.

With a whir of gears, a robotic spider fell from the hole and lowered itself down to floor by a metal tether from its hindquarters. Riding on its back was a familiar, tan furred Lombax. The spider landed with a succession of clinking taps from eight metal legs and Kaden hopped off.

"Hello." he said nonchalantly to Sorana, who was hiding behind a large brass instrument.

"Wha-What is that thing?" she demanded in a terrified voice. Kaden looked around in confusion until he realized what she was talking about.

"Oh, that's just Brad." he answered. "Thanks for the ride Brad. I'm good now."

Kaden waved at the spider who returned the wave with one metal limb while retracting back up to the ceiling on its tether. Once it was back inside the hole, it replaced the disc of ceiling material. A moment later, grey goo oozed from the circle's outline. It hissed and smoked for a few seconds while the gap was sealed and the goo was absorbed or evaporated. When it stopped hissing there was no sign that anything had ever been there.

Sorana stood up while staring open-mouthed at where the hole had been. Kaden walked over to sit on the seat that she had just vacated and looked over the holographic music sheets that she had been practicing.

"Do you really sit here and practice this for hours every day?" he asked in amazement.

"What are you doing here!" Sorana shouted. Kaden jumped in surprise at her sudden outburst.

"I came to play." he said hesitantly, worried that he did something wrong.

"What was that…thing." she demanded again while pointing at the ceiling.

"That was Brad…" Kaden trailed off as Sorana's glare told him to be more specific (among other things). "He's a maintenance-bot that was hurt. I fixed him and now he helps me get around when the mean lady's in a bad mood." Sorana gawked at him and wondered if she'd ever stop being struck speechless by the strange tan furred Lombax.

* * *

A sixteen year old Sorana watched as a sixteen year old Kaden placed a hand to his mouth to stop himself from puking up the beans he'd just eaten. He gritted his teeth through the heaves and determination shone from his eyes as the task of finishing the meal transitioned in his mind from a punishment to a personal challenge.

_Not yet. _thought Sorana.

* * *

After taking a moment to calm down, a young Sorana straightened herself and addressed Kaden once more.

"You can't be here." she said flatly. Kaden didn't look surprised.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because you're a bad kid and my instructor told me that I can't be around you." she answered with a hint of sadness. Kaden began to spin on the chair.

"No he didn't." he replied cheerfully. "I was listening."

"Yes he did." said Sorana in mild annoyance this time. "If you heard him then you know what he said."

"Yep." Kaden replied as he stopped spinning and faced her. "He just told you that you can't open the door for me. He didn't say we couldn't play together."

"That's not what he meant." she replied angrily. "He was telling me that I shouldn't be around you at all." Kaden's expression turned into a familiarly an arrogant smirk,

"Yah right, you didn't even know that lighting a fire under your tail could make you run faster." he said mockingly.

Sorana's face showed stunned indignation, then as she felt déjà vu, her lips slowly cracked into a smile and for the first time that she could remember, she began to laugh uncontrollably. She held her stomach and fell to her knees until tears rolled down her cheek fur.

There was something strange about his words (besides the obvious). She had heard them before, said by the same person, with the same tone, with the same stupid smirk. Last time they had enraged her, but this time the feelings they gave her was completely different and she didn't know why, so she just laughed at the awkwardness.

As she calmed down slightly, she looked up at Kaden again. The face he wore was of complete confusion. He knew even less about why she had suddenly started laughing than she did. He didn't know what he should do and it made her laugh even harder.

Finally, after about a minute, she stopped laughing enough to stand back up and walk over to him.

"You know if you get caught, you'll be in big trouble." she informed his as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Kaden shrugged.

"No big deal." he said, brushing the thought aside.

"You like playing the Harmonixium that much?" she asked, still grinning from her laughing fit.

Kaden turned to face the instrument, which was still activated. He examined the cords carefully before replying,

"Not really," he began to say honestly, "this thing's kind of annoying. It's too random and illogical." Sorana was confused by both his answer and the fact that the single most chaotic being she'd ever met had just called something 'illogical'.

"Then why'd you come back?" she asked in confusion. Kaden turned to face her and mirrored her confused look.

"Because we're friends." he answered as if it were obvious, before turning back around.

"Friends?" Sorana repeated in surprise.

"Yeah, you said so yesterday." He answered simply.

Sorana felt her face warm as she recalled calling Kaden her friend to stop Miss Anne from taking him away. She realized that she didn't exactly understand what that expression entailed. Sure she knew the definition, but she had never really thought of her classmates as 'friends'. All she ever did with them or talked to them about was school work.

From that day on Sorana was sure she had a friend. A friend that she wasn't technically allowed to meet with so it was also the first rule she ever broke. They usually met when she was practicing alone and Kaden found more imaginative ways of entering and leaving the music room undetected.

Kaden was the only person Sorana could talk to that wasn't part of her social society, so she was able to talk openly and honestly on absolutely anything for the first time. This had its pros and cons with him though. It was nice to be free to talk without direct consequences, but Kaden had a tendency to try and 'help'. Like the time Sorana had been worried that she had failed a test after forgetting to study. The next day she found that she'd received a perfect score. She didn't find out right away that Kaden had done something either, because instead of changing her answers to the match the correct ones he changed the digital textbooks in the school database to match her answers. The school had taught the founding year of Valmecha City as being a hundred years earlier than in actually was for a worryingly long time before a teacher finally caught it.

Kaden would also talk to Sorana about his 'adventures' over the course of their friendship, which he couldn't do with anyone else since the vast majority of them were considered criminal by most laws. There was the time the statue in Valmecha Park disappeared, or the time a tree in the same park became sentient and attacked picnickers, or the time the 2nd district swimming pool dried up mysteriously, or when those mutated weasels escaped the school lab and reproduced so much that a third of the city had to be quarantined in order to exterminate them (they hadn't been mutated prior to the day they escaped).

Sorana had briefly worried that they would have to stop meeting after she started attending Principal Education, but Kaden had amazed her by making it into her elite school on test scores alone. After that they didn't have to hide their friendship. Sorana was a little concerned that Kaden's reputation would follow him though. Knowing this, she prepared herself to stand up for him to her teachers, classmates, and even her parents, but again to her amazement, he drastically reduced how often he got into trouble (by which she meant that he stopped getting caught more so than he stopped breaking rules). She never knew if it was because of her or not, but she often liked to let herself think it was.

Their relationship remained unchanged, with Sorana as the quiet and obedient girl from a high-class family and Kaden as the free-spirited troublemaker until a very specific point in their past. It began when Sorana finally became aware of something that she had tried to ignore. After only a couple years of her giving Kaden secret Harmonixium lessons alone, she finally had to accept that… he was catching up to her skill level.

He only ever practiced for about an hour or so after some (but not all) of her private lessons, which were taught to her by the best instructors in Valmecha. She would also practice on her own time. That made it all the harder to accept that the odd Lombax that she'd met in such a strange way could be progressing so much more rapidly.

When they first met, Sorana had just over a year of experience on Kaden with the Harmonixium. At first she had thought she was just a good teacher and that he was brighter than she'd given him credit for. However, when she began teaching him techniques and notes that she herself had only just learnt a few months prior, she could no longer deny it. Desperately she tried to keep her lead by increasing her already substantial practice regiment and focused ever harder on improving, but all she managed to do was slow the speed with which Kaden closed the gap between them.

Eventually he matched her in ability and it was a crushing feeling for Sorana. All the time and effort she had put into her craft and he could do the same in much less time with almost no trouble at all. Still, she did not give up. Even though she continued to 'mentor' Kaden, she often found him mastering a skill before her with just the concept that her instructors had tried to teach her moments before.

There was a small space of time when it seemed that she was finally surpassing her new rival and new hope filled her, but soon the devastating truth came out. Kaden had lost interest in playing the Harmonixium and finally he told her that he no longer wanted to play.

A deep depression settled over Sorana after that. Kaden still tried to spend time with her, but all she could think about around him was how defeated she felt. Kaden may be oblivious to most things, but even he felt out of place around her. The time they spent together began to dwindle by the week.

That all stopped when one day Sorana had learnt that Kaden's grades were dropping. She knew they couldn't be dropping due to difficulty, no, not for Kaden. The only explanation was that, like the Harmonixium, he had lost interest and was simply ignoring them.

Sorana had come close to it, but not fully on the day she first met Kaden. Since then it had slowly grown with constant exposure to his blatant disregard of every form of social structure she'd ever adheared to. Finally the last string holding the perfectly mannered Sorana together snapped. With no more room in her heart for sorrow, she instead filled with rage and exploded at the thought of such talent and ability going to waste on such a raritanium-skulled, fluffy-eared, lazy, sack of fur.

She quickly sought out and found Kaden, he had been using the school science lab's laser to etch, admittedly cool, insignia and designs on a few of the maintenance androids, most of which were friendlier with him than the school staff which they had been built to serve.

Grabbing him by the ears and removing his robotic compatriots with a new found ability to instill fear with only a look, she proceeded give Kaden the piece of her mind that glowed hot with anger. Using every single piece of dirt she had accumulated on him over the past few years as leverage, she gave him an ultimatum: shape up or pay for every misdeed he'd ever gotten away with…He chose the former.

As Kaden proceeded to return his focus to schoolwork Sorana kept an eye on him by giving 'encouragement' when needed. She also returned to playing the Harmonixium, which she had avoided since her depression began. That was when she found something surprising. She had been disregarding the words of praise from her instructors on her playing and instead only focused on comparing herself to Kaden's rapid progress. With a new demeanor she began to play again and found that she was soon being hailed as the youngest master of the Harmonixium in Valmechan history and a child prodigy. This came as somewhat of a shock since she still felt inferior to Kaden.

With new confidence she faced her decision. Fearing that Kaden would despise her for using the stories he'd told her in confidence as blackmail, she prepared to accept any loathsome feelings he felt towards her in order to ensure that he did not revert to wasting his skills, but there were none to be felt.

Even as she forced him to achieve a perfect academic standing, Kaden showed no signs of resentment aside from the childish grumblings and pleas he emitted when she was required to 'encourage' him. When they both moved on to Secondary Education, where both teachers and students alike began to take notice of his remarkable talents, he still considered her to be his closest friend.

Over time Kaden began requiring less 'encouragement' and the two of them grew closer than ever. He also did anything that he thought would make Sorana happy, like when he 'helped' as a child, only this time with more practicality. Even if his gestures weren't always particularly well planned out, she still enjoyed the thought.

It was somewhere among these days that Sorana came to the realization that she...

* * *

"Finished!" roared a sixteen year old Kaden in triumph, shaking Sorana from her train of thought before slamming his spoon into his now empty bowl. He then grabbed his mouth and sat down to stop himself from vomiting as several other students turned to see the cause of the commotion.

_Yes._ thought Sorana, reorganizing her mental relfections as she watched her childhood friend's face shift back and forth from gleeful victory to sickly horror and pain.

_It was somewhere among these days that Sorana came to the realization that she...had a duty to make sure Kaden would not completely waste his talents…Even if it killed him._

After setting down her silverware and napkin Sorana cleared her throat and interlaced her fingers before laying them across the table like a government official preparing to speak.

"Congratulations." she said sarcastically. "Now sit down." Kaden did as he was told and Alister sat up as well, after shoving the last few bites of his meal into his mouth. "Knowing you Kaden, I'll bet you're planning on getting revenge for the tournament in some overly obsessive way. Am I right?" Kaden's expression stiffened as once again she hit the nail on the head and he was left with nothing to say. "Alister?" she asked again after turning to her other friend.

"Kaden's having a meeting with a supplier tonight about a deal to defeat Kor." answered Alister stiffly as if responding to a drill sergeant.

"Traitor." hissed Kaden under his breath towards Alister.

"You dug the grave," he whispered back, "you sleep in it."

"Quiet." Sorana interrupted and they both returned to attention. "To be honest, I don't really mind. As long as Kaden doesn't neglect his schoolwork like he always does when something shiny gets its hooks into his head." Kaden looked confused, both from the fact that Sorana wasn't fully against his plans and as to whether the 'shiny' bit was an insult about maturity.

"So you don't mind if we try to take Kor down?" Kaden asked in disbelief.

"As I said, so long as you complete your schoolwork you can have any hobby you want." Sorana answered. A grin spread across her lips. "Besides, you won't get another shot at him for at least a year."

"What?" responded Kaden with even more confusion. He turned to Alister who didn't look surprised by the comment.

"You see Kaden," Sorana continued, "there are plenty of downsides to locking yourself in your room. For instance, you missed the school gossip that Kor was promoted to level two after a review of the tournament."

Kaden leaned back in his chair as the news hit him. He had known that level one students rarely competed against each other besides the 'breaking in battle' during the annual tournament, but he had still hoped that there'd be an opportunity to show up Kor in one of their classes. If Kor was now a level two, then that meant there was almost no chance of them facing off again before the next annual tournament.

Sorana slid her seat out and stood up. "Well that was delicious." she said cheerfully as she circled the table. "Kaden, next time I'll treat you to something a little more tasteful, so answer your communicator, ok?"

"Yes sir." he said both sarcastically and sadly in defeat.

Sorana left and Alister breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't gotten caught in the crossfire...this time. Sorana wasn't usually that domineering and scary, but she could be if she wanted to. Those kinds of girls were the most terrifying in his opinion.

"If it's any consolation," began Alister towards Kaden, who was leaning back in his seat and looking at the ceiling, "whatever this meat was...it was REALLY good." Kaden turned only his head to stare blankly at his friend.

"It is not." he answered. "So, you knew that Kor had been promoted to level two?" he then asked. Alister nodded.

"It's pretty rare for a level one student to get promoted after only a month at the academy." he replied as he used his finger to collect the last few drops of the ridiculously sweet and tangy sauce from his plate. "You'd have to be living in isolation not to hear about it." Kaden returned to staring at the ceiling as his stomach grumbled in angry protest.

"Then the question is: What now?"


	14. Unveiled

Regular classes had resumed for both Kaden and Alister. Today they both had Basic Ranged Weapons together in the Military Field. Their class was now field stripping the standard issue blasters they'd received while waiting for their turn to use the firing range. The steady beat of muffled energy blasts could be heard from outside the door and down the hall.

"So, how's the plan to defeat Kor coming along?" Alister asked. There was a hint of sarcasm since he knew there was nothing Kaden could really do, what with the next tournament almost a year away and Sorana Keeping an eye on him.

"To be honest I don't have much of one." Kaden answered, completely missing the sarcasm. "It'd be pointless to try and build anything before I get my workshop and I don't really want to draw up any detailed schematics until I know what equipment I'll get to work with."

"That sounds more like nothing than 'not much'." noted Alister.

"It might as well be." Kaden grumbled back. "I figured I'd at least try to learn more about Red Lombaxes and see if they had any 'legendary' weaknesses, but that turned out to be a waste of time. I can't find one single accredited historical group with public data on the subject."

"You mean no one knows anything about them?" Alister asked in surprise.

"No, with all the legends on the holo-net about Red Lombaxes, not to mention that we have one right her at school, there has to be someone with a degree out there who knows something. It's more likely that there's a government order that's preventing any official acknowledgement."

"Now you sound like a conspiracy theorist." Joked Alister, though he knew Kaden was probably right, as he usually was about research and data. "Then how about any of the unofficial stuff, anything of value on Geekapedia?" Kaden groaned unhappily before responding,

"I think I'm worse off than before after reading that stuff. If I hadn't known Kor existed I'd probably believe that Red Lombaxes could grow over ten feet tall, breathe fire, fly, regenerate after sucking the blood of another Lombax, and grant wishes."

"Haha, maybe he can." laughed Alister. "I wouldn't be surprised if the next time we fought him he hawked a flaming lugy at us." Kaden laughed at the idea with him.

"And those aren't even all of them." Kaden continued comically. "They can also change their fur color, see in the dark, they don't need to sleep, they are immune to poison or acid, and have a mouth full of razor sharp teeth that can chew through Raritanium." Alister stopped smiling,

"Well we know that last one's true." he said solemnly.

Kaden's tail curled involuntarily and a chill that ran down his spine as he flashed back to when he'd briefly witnessed Kor's Sharkigator grin. With it came the memory of his embarrassing defeat during the tournament.

"Maybe not the Raritanium part," Kaden replied sourly, "but the stuff about the poison may have some merit to it as well. So what does the rest of his face look like?" Alister was caught off guard when he found that the question was aimed at him.

"Why would I know that?" he asked in confusion. Kaden finished disassembling his blaster and began reassembling it. Alister had already started reassembling his.

"You mean you've never seen it?" Kaden pressed. "Don't all level one students have to stay in a barracks together? I know he needs a mask to breath, but if he couldn't take it off at all then he wouldn't wear just that simple mask. He'd need to be in an enviro-suit at all times."

"He never stayed in the barracks." Alister answered with a shrug.

"What do you mean he never stayed in the barracks?" Kaden shot back. "He was a level one for most of the semester. Where does he sleep?"

"No one knows." admitted Alister. "He just shows up to classes. I've heard that a few students tried to follow him, but they always lose him after he gets on the grav-lifts. It makes sense though, after all he probably needs to sleep in a bubble." Alister finished assembling his blaster and sighted down its barrel as he cycled its power cell. "That's if he's actually a Red Lombax." Kadn paused before reattaching the focusing barrel of his weapon.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

"Well, think about it. We've only ever seen his ears to prove that he actually has red fur." Alister explained. "I mean what are the chances that the mythical Red Lombaxes actually existed before we saw Kor? Then tell me what are the chances that they not only existed, but also that one shows up in our class as a fellow student? He then goes to a every class completely covered at all times, utterly humiliates everyone else with his superior skills, and after the tournament he gets promoted and is never seen again." Kaden pondered Alister's theory,

"It's possible, but why would someone impersonate a Red Lombax?" he speculated.

"I think Nova Academy set it up." Alister continued. "I think it's some way of motivating the new crop of students. It's definitely got you hooked."

"Now who sounds like a conspiracy theorist?" retorted Kaden as he finished his blaster and cycled its power cell.

"What would you do if Kor wasn't a red Lombax?" continued Alister. Kaden thought about the scenario for a moment.

"It doesn't matter." he concluded at last. "Even if he's not a Red Lombax, he still beat us and I'm not going to let that sit. He can't be older than us either since he's no taller than we are, unless you think he's not a Lombax at all."

Members of the Lombax race go through several stages of adolescence unlike most species which have only one stage. From childhood they grow slowly and gradually until about eight years old. At this age their size increases more quickly and they become very curious. At age twelve they stop growing physically, but usually become very restless and begin thirsting for adventure. They then remain about a head shorter than their maximum potential height until they are much older. Kor is clearly in the same age group as Kaden and Alister since his height roughly matches theirs.

"No, I don't doubt that he's a Lombax, or rather, I don't want to believe someone other than a Lombax can fight like he does." Alister admitted. "Either way the only thing we know about him is what kind of armor he wears and what weapons he carries." Kaden nodded.

"At least in that area I've had a little luck." he began a little more brightly. "I know his armor, the old G-83 medium. Almost all fully enclosed suits offer at least a small hinderance to vision and movement...'

"Ha," interrupted Alister, "If his armor is hindering him in any way when he moves, I'd hate to see what he's like naked." While the image wasn't pleasant, Kaden had to agree that there was something almost supernatural about Kor's speed.

"Besides that he's only used weapons for short and medium ranged combat." Kaden continued. "His Impact Drivers can only reach as far as his fists and his Wrench, while devastating, doesn't have any gravity manipulators. The only ranged weapons he has, that we know of, are his Gemini Pistols and they aren't really made for ranged combat either, especially the Pollux dueler. The best way to attack him would probably be from a distance and with his speed it'll probably have to be from several places at once. It's just a matter of making a weapon that can do that."

Gemini Pistols were built and sold in sets. They were identical looking, but had very different functions. Pollux is the name of the pistol that shoots orange-colored, heavy rounds. They're slow and less accurate, but much more powerful. Castor is the name of the second pistol which fires rapid, white, piercing shots, designed to be very accurate, but at the cost of destructive power.

"By the way," Alister said as he pulled out his personal Combustor and started to clean it, "why'd Mercatus end up accepting your deal? No offense, but there has to be other Lombaxes at the academy with more experience. You're only a level one after all." Kaden wasn't upset by Alister's comment. It was also true that he'd asked Mercatus the same thing.

"Apparently," Kaden started to answer, "most students here are only interested in grades. There are some that will build things for Bolts, but they usually charge a high negotiating price since any work they do for Mercatus would not count towards Nova Academy's credits. He invested in me because I'm the only Engineer on the mountain that will build weapons and gadgets solely in exchange for the ability to make them."

"Ha, so it's not your skill he wants it's your cheap labor." jabbed Alister.

"Squad 3!" came the shout of their Basic Ranged Weapons instructor.

"That's us." said Kaden as they both stood up and tucked their rifles into their shoulders, before heading to the shooting range.

* * *

Kaden was heading down the grav-lift of the Science Field to a floor that Mercatus had granted him special access to. Today was the day he got to see his new workshop and he couldn't help but be a bit anxious. As the lift doors opened, he walked out into a large reception area. A few guard-bots stood sentry in the corners and a robotic secretary sat at the large desk in the center.

Mercatus was sitting in one of the lounge chairs writing on a digi-pad. He looked up as Kaden approached and greeted him. Kaden had quickly decided that he liked Mercatus after getting to know him. He gave off a business like air that made him seem as if he knew what he was doing. He had mostly begun to like him though, after their negotiations meeting. He had expected to go into Mercatus's office and be given a take it or leave it scenario, since Mercatus had no real need of the investment. Surprisingly his terms were very generous. Kaden retained all long-term rights to his inventions and got access to tons of supplies and equipment within a certain spending limit.

Mercatus in turn got the right to sell and produce any of the schematics Kaden designed while using his resources until the cost of the entire endeavor had been paid off. It was essentially a loan with Kaden's inventions as collateral. Mercatus could also cancel the deal at any time, which was only fair in Kaden's opinion. There had also been a verbal agreement between them that if Kaden ever wanted to market his goods afterwards then Mercatus should be considered with favor.

They passed through a doorway that was to the side of the reception area and it led to what looked like a series of break rooms full of Science Field students in lab coats mostly chatting and eating. One room had a group of about five students all intently watching a holo-screen.

Eventually Mercatus stopped at another series of grav-lifts, separate from the ones Kaden had used. These lifts were specific to the laboratory sector of the Science Field. As the two got in, the lift doors closed and Mercatus punched in a security code, which Kaden was then told to memorize. They began descending and soon there was a familiar green light and a buzzing noise that indicated they were being bio-scanned.

"There's a lot of security." Kaden said, thinking aloud.

"Of course there is." Mercatus replied. "The private labs and workshops of the Science Field hold secrets and technology almost as coveted as the Center for Advance Lombax Research. There's even rumors that the C.A.L.R. uses Nova facilities when they have overflow research to do, so there could even me some top-secret government experiments going on down here."

"Yah," Kaden began sarcastically, "maybe they're even experimenting with inter-dimensional travel."

The idea that the C.A.L.R. had the technology to open inter-dimensional portals to other worlds was one of the most popular conspiracy theories on the holo-net. No matter how much the government denied it, there were always a few loons out there that just wouldn't let it go. Mercatus laughed at his comment,

"I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be true. If someone had told me as a kid that weapons upgraded using Nanotech would become a popular commodity, I would have laughed at them."

Kaden had to admit that Mercatus had a point. As a scientist it was his duty to never believe something is a hundred percent impossible. He mentally chided himself for his comment.

The idea of nano-weapons was a good example of far-fetched ideas working out. Buying cheaper versions of weaponry with a fraction of their potential power that upgraded when you killed your enemies? That sounded like something out of a holo-vid game, but they existed and they were very popular among heroes and adventures of the galaxy.

The concept was surprisingly simple. Nanotech was essential a bunch of microscopic robots called nanites whose structure was made up of both metal alloys and proteins. They could then use themselves as building blocks to repair damaged organic tissue or even robotic circuitry to an extent. It all depended on how they were brilliant inventor, or more likely mad scientist, realized that they could take huge quantities of nanites and give them commands to use themselves as the building material to construct weapons and other equipment.

The tiny nanites were however, very hard to make. They all have a program subroutine that allows them to replicated over long periods of time when in contact with traces of the rare metals required to build them, but any warrior prone to firefights would need constant infusions of new ones to stay alive.

Nano-weapons became a sweeping hit across the galaxy and beyond as Kaden had been told. Huge armies with lots of men, but no bolts, or great adventures and heroes with the same problem were suddenly able to buy cheaply manufactured weapons. If they survived a battle with any creature containing nanites they could then absorb them from their enemy's corpses. The Nanotech controller on the weapon would then command the nanites to carry out the preloaded upgrade schematics once it had enough of them stored.

The doors to the lift opened to reveal a long hallway with two, very large doors. Mercatus explained that most labs were isolated and that the different lifts would be exclusively capable of reaching them. Since Kaden hadn't needed a lab with all the extra safety and privacy protocols, he'd instead be sharing the floor with another team. For the moment however, the other lab was empty.

Mercatus walked to one of the doors and opened it, the lights activated automatically, illuminating the vast workshop. Kaden couldn't help but smile at the shiny new lab that was all his to use. It was bigger than any of the classrooms he'd ever worked in. It was filled with manufacturing equipment, molecular and atomic manipulators, a massive power station, and a smoothie machine.

"Like it?" Mercatus asked. "I got a good deal on the metal fabricator over there, but I'm really proud of atomic manipulators. They're the best you can get without going into the Quantum manipulator class."

As Kaden walked around the room he envisioned all the things he could make. He was going to set up force gauge in the corner and he'd work on explosives by the far wall. There'd be plenty of room for the blast shield without it getting in the way of other projects. Liquid type ammunition experiments would have to be done around one of the two drains in the floor and gas weaponry would be over by the air purifier/atmosphere purging device.

"This is going to be good." Kaden said aloud as he wandered around the room.

"I'm very much looking forward to the results. Now, would you mind indulging me in a request?" asked Mercatus.

"Sure." answered Kaden enthusiastically.

"I have a good relationship with a few Grummels who specialize in weaponry." explained Mercatus. "If there are any real Bolts to be made, it would be on the intergalactic market. As I'm sure you know, Lombax technology is banned from being sold to non-Lombax groups without special permission and I'm not likely to get that any time soon. I was hoping you could try and make a few weapons that didn't make use of technology unknown to the rest of the galaxy." Kaden thought about the request. It shouldn't be too hard to do for him, especially since his vendetta had been put on hold for the time being.

"I can do that. No problem." He replied with confidence. Mercatus clapped his hands together in delight,

"Excellent, then that just leaves the building materials, when they arrive. If you need anything else you can either send me a request or purchase it yourself and I'll reimburse you. I would prefer however, if you tried to let me buy as many of the materials that you need as possible. It may take a little longer, but I can usually find them for a better price among my contacts." As Mercatus finished his sentence there was a loud buzzing noise. "Ah ha, that's probably them."

Mercatus opened the door to the lab and two small lab assistant androids trundled in. A lab assistant android was a very simply designed robot. Its base was a simple covered motor block on tank treads. Up from the center of the block came a large cylinder that ended in four long, robotic limbs that ended in tools and a central stalk that ended in the robot's visual matrix.

Each of the two droids had large hovercart attachments. On them were various stacks, tubes and boxes of materials. Also in the piles, stashed on the second lab-bot's cart, was a brown crate. Mercatus grabbed this first and lifted it onto a table.

"You'll want to make sure you keep this safe." he said as he reached for something to open it. "I recommend you don't hold your wrench while looking at." He laughed at his own joke, but Kaden didn't get it.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Oh, it's just some humor you learn when you do business with adventurers." Mercatus answered. "They get into such a habit of smashing these things whenever and wherever they see them that they sometimes do it when they shouldn't." There was a groan of wood and a crack as the lid popped off the box and revealed a pile of glimmering Bolts.

Bolts were the currency of the galaxy. They weren't like some ancient currencies, which relied on a government to give them value. They were valued by the material they were made of. A very delicate molecular mix of Titanium, Gold, Platinum, and Raritanium formed their precious alloy structure. The reason Mercatus had brought a crate of them into Kaden's workshop was because they were necessary for his work.

Besides being a currency, Bolts were nearly indestructible. Kaden reached into the crate and pulled out a handful of various sized and shaped Bolts before letting them slide through his fingers back into the pile. They were even lighter then they looked. That combined with their strength made them perfect for use in weapons and armor, which need to be both light and sturdy. Most Bolts were the size of plant seeds, fabricated with the intention of holding together the very delicate internal parts of complex weaponry. What was officially considered a 'Bolt' for currency was actually a standard measurement of mass and material ratio.

"Why would anyone want to smash a crate of bolts?" Kaden pressed after tearing his eyes from the glittering pile of cash.

"Because it's what they do." Mercatus answered with a small chuckle. "Any decent fighting force needs to be supplied with three things: Ammo, Nanotech, and Bolts for repairs. They tend to keep these supplies together in stacks of crates like this one. Heroes, adventures, explorers, and anyone else crazy enough to fight those armies have an insatiable lust to loot those crates for all their worth."

"That sounds dumb. What kind of person smashes crates so often that it becomes an addictive second nature and they just start smashing them whenever they see one?" wondered Kaden aloud as he shook his head.

"Don't knock the system Kaden." Mercatus replied with a knowing tone. "It's the whole reason a single, highly skilled hero can finance a one man war, which is good for me since I sell the equipment to both sides." Kaden turned his attention back to the two supply laden lab-bots and changed the subject.

"So, do these two come with the gear or are they just a delivery service?" he asked as he began unloading the other materials, though he was mostly just interested in seeing what they were. He was like a child opening gifts.

"They're both yours to use as you see fit." said Mercatus moving over to the first one. "This one is Alpha and the other is Beta. You can change their names if you want, they don't have very advanced A.I. so they'll only follow specific commands."

"What's the point of names?" asked Kaden. "They look identical. How am I going to tell them apart?" At that moment Varick turned the corner and waltzed into the open lab door.

"Oh, I'm sure once you use them for a few experiments you'll be able to tell them apart by the scorch marks and dents they'll most surely have." he said cheerfully.

"Varick." Kaden replied un-cheerfully as a way of greeting.

"Welcome Varick." greeted Mercatus. "Come to make sure your protégé is getting settled in?"

"Of course." Varick responded. "And how do you like everything so far Kaden?"

"It's excellent. I'll definitely be able to put this stuff to good use." answered Kaden before digging back into the supply pile.

"Well then, how about a teaser?" asked Varrick eagerly. "I'm sure you've already got the first weapon you want to prototype dancing in your mind. Am I right?" Kaden thought for a moment. It was true that he did have many ideas of what to do, but due to recent events he had lost the momentum of his defeat-inspired enthusiasm.

"Yah, I've got a few ideas I want to try, but Mercatus just asked me to look into building something that was a bit more market friendly." Kaden explained. "I've got over a year until the next tournament, so I might as well try and pay off what I'm going to owe ahead of time." Varick looked both confused and disappointed.

"What do you mean?" he intoned questioningly. "The whole point of this was to give you the chance to chase your revenge right? Forget about 'market friendly'."

'Ahhhhp-up-up-up...now hold on there Varick." Mercatus interjected quickly. "Now I see nothing wrong with Kaden's strategy. It's smart and safe and he's got plenty of time to do his own thing." Varick turned to Mercatus with a slight glare.

"Of course it sounds good to you." he said. "I can already see the Bolts glittering in your eyes." Varick looked Mercatus straight in the eye and did a double take. A confused look crossed his face and a moment later he turned to look down at the table behind him to see the shiny crate full of Bolts and choked as he repressed a small fit of laughter. "Ahem." he said as he cleared his throat. He then turned back to Kaden. "So then, what happened to all that excitement, all that fire that I saw when you started this project?" Kaden shrugged at the question.

"I don't know. It's not like I've given up. I've just realized that there's plenty of time and obsessing about it won't get me anywhere. Besides that, I still have to focus on my Science Field scores. I nearly forgot that I'm not even a member of the Military Field." Varick began studying Kaden closely before responding,

"You know Kaden...that sounds suspiciously like logical thought. What happened?" Varick asked again suspiciously and with one eyebrow raised.

"Nothing happened." replied Kaden in annoyance.

Varick continued to stare at him while processing something in his mind until finally he nodded his apparent acceptance.

* * *

Sorana was getting dressed for the night's dinner party. This time she had been informed that it was to be some kind of tropical theme. She had briefly thought of inviting Kaden since roasted pork was supposed to be the main dish and she still hadn't done her usual indirect apology for being stern with him, though he'd likely have already forgotten about it, she always did that sort of thing out of personal guilt. She changed her mind immediately however, when she got her dinner ware.

She didn't mind the skirt so much, even though it seemed to be made from what looked like long grass and she actually liked the flower necklace that accented it. Her real problem was that the top she'd received seemed to be made from two halves of an exotic fruit...and nothing else. There was no way the two half orbs on a string she was holding could be normal clothing and even if they were, there was no way she was going to let Kaden see her wearing it.

A small vibration from the top of Sorana's desk interrupted her thoughts. Unlike Kaden, who's NID system was integrated so deeply with his neural and physiological system that it could project simple icons on his peripheral vision, Sorana had very few NID upgrades. Her entire system was more of antennae really, since she needed an external device to access it at all. The vibration of her personal digi-pad was the signal that she had received a message.

"Who is it?" asked Sorana's brown furred roommate from where she sat on her bed.

"Hold on Claire, let me look at it first." Sorana replied.

She picked up the digi-pad and opened her digital mailbox. At first she thought the new mail was one of 'those kinds' of messages when she saw the picture of the extremely handsome male as the sender's profile image, but she read it anyway.

_Dear Ms. Sorana Bellit,_

_Greetings, I hope this message finds you well. I believe that you and I may be able to help one another greatly on a specific matter that is important to both of us. I would very much like to make your acquaintance. Please allow me the honor of having you for dinner. Simply tell me a date that would be convenient for you._

_-Sincerely yours,_

_Level eight President of the Science Field, _

_Varick Adjunaris_

After reading the message itself, Sorana still hadn't changed her mind about its purpose, but when she was able to authenticate the Nova Academy title she decided that it warranted a reply. She could at least see what he wanted.

"Guess it wasn't that nerdy boyfriend of yours." her roommate sighed with disappointment. Sorana rolled her eyes at her friend's prodding.

"How do you know it wasn't him?" she asked as she walked to a wall and activated a holo-projector, generating a life-size, holographic, mirror image of herself wearing the hula outfit.

"Because," Claire began with a grin, "you get this adorable look on your face, like little kid about open a new toy, when you get a message from him. It's so cute."

"Humph." scoffed Sorana dismissively as she spun the hologram of herself around to see her back. "You overanalyze everything. Kaden and I don't have that kind of relationship. Go back to reading your _Crepuscular_ holo-books." She studied her holographic self intently and tried the pose she'd seen on the outfit's package. She put one arm on her hip and the other behind her head. There was sudden flash of light and she turned to see Claire holding the digi-pad she'd just used with its built-in vid collector pointed at her.

"Then you won't mind if your completely platonic friend offers his opinion on your outfit." said Claire with a grin.

"Delete it." Sorana demanded sternly.

"Let's see now, top eight contacts, here we go, Kaden. 'Hey Kaden, tell me what you think of this dress'." Claire continued as she tapped rapidly on the digi-pad screen.

"Claire, I'm warning you." Sorana threatened desperately as her ears flattened down and back and her eyes narrowed. "Put that down right now!"

"Oops. Too late." laughed Claire sadistically as Sorana's digi-pad beeped.

Sorana began walking slowly over to where her roommate sat, picking up a pillow on the way. The smile on Claire's face disappeared.

"Ok Sor, it was just a joke. I didn't send it...see." Claire raised the digi-pad to show Sorana. She stoped and glanced at it to see the transmission history read Claire's name instead of Kaden's. Sorana then continued walking forward until she was at the foot of her roommate's bed. "Sorana wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean...Noooo!"


	15. The Storm Before the Storm

Nova Academy split its year into three parts. Two of those parts were the standard semester season, filled with normal school activities and classes. The third part was divided in half and separated to occur in between each semester. These two intermediate periods were considered 'vacation', though most students spent the time trying to improve themselves rather than relax. A hard working student could turn a vacation period into a whole semester worth of advancement if they tried hard enough.

The time of year was quickly approaching where the current semester ended and the winter vacation began. Kaden now sat at large workbench connecting molecule thin circuits on one of several devices connected to each other by wires. This was the last modification that he needed to make before he could finally do a full test of the equipment's functions.

Right on time a buzzer sounded and Alister's name was used to welcome someone to the lab as the security system granted them access. Kaden had asked Alister to help test his new weapon as it would need someone with considerable skill to operate while he monitored the strain and energy readings.

"Nearly done?" Alister asked with poorly hidden excitement. One of his favorite things about hanging out with Kaden was seeing all of his crazy inventions and he was looking forward to his one as much as ever.

"Almost." replied Kaden without looking up.

He was wearing very large goggles that were showing him real time, nanoscopic images of the circuitry he was working on. Although it looked like he was directly manipulating the molecules, he wasn't. The tools in his hands were actually just controls. Nanites, similar to the ones used in nanotech, mimicked his tools' movements after scaling them down which allowed him to do high precision work quickly. Alister watched him work and wondered how long he'd be.

"You really think you can stop Kor with this?" he asked impatiently.

"I won't know until we test it, but I hope so." answered Kaden. "I've been looking forward to seeing this one tested since I put those holes in the ceiling during the concept phase." Alister looked up to see dozens of tiny pock marks in the ceiling and nodded his approval.

As he continued to wait, Alister began to look around the room. It was filled with all kinds of electronic equipment and other inventions, a few of which he had already helped Kaden test.

"Are all these things going to be sold by Mercatus?" Alister asked.

"Any of them he wants to, yah." Kaden answered, still without looking up. "He has some good connections with the Grummels. He wants them to market the devices outside of Fastoon. He says they could bring in a fortune. Apparently they're really excited about my latest cryo-weapon."

"Oh yah? What's it look like?" asked Alister from the back of the lab.

"They're blue orbs that come out of special gauntlet. It generates them from a condensed state because they don't have a long shelf-life." Kaden called back. Alister stopped walking and turned back to Kaden.

"Wait a second. Isn't it illegal to sell Lombax technology to outsiders?" he asked suspiciously. Kaden still didn't look up from his work.

"There's an exception to every rule." he explained. "The weapon's design doesn't use any of the advanced manufacturing techniques or physical properties that are known only to the Lombaxes." Alister shrugged in acceptance of the answer.

"What does it do?" he continued to question while now looking for the object.

"The orbs are filled with Cryogel and when they explode the gel coats nearby enemies, freezing them solid."

"Oh! So they're like some kind of cryo-grenade?" said Alister, suddenly spotting the blue orbs in the corner of the room.

"No," said Kaden, still not looking up from his work, "they're Cryomines."

"Wha..." Alister began, but was cut off by a sudden bang and the sound of rapid crystallization.

Kaden grinned to himself as he took off the Nanotool and looked up. Alister stood in the corner of the lab with most of his lower body encased in Ice. His pose clearly showed that he'd reached out for the mine, but the blast pattern of ice showed that it had detonated at about his chest. _That means the seeker device worked. _thought Kaden.

"I said." Kaden began with a tone of mock annoyance at having to repeat himself. "They're not cryo-grenades, they're Cryomines. They've been designed to chase down any enemy that gets too close to one. They were armed and in the corner while I was testing how long they could last after activation."

"Wh-wh-when were you go-go-going to tell me that." stuttered Alister through chattering teeth.

"I wasn't." answered Kaden with a grin. "Hmmm, seems like they've lost some of their coating capacity. I guess it's been sitting a little too long."

"Wh-wh-whatever, j-j-just get me out." Alister demanded.

"I will don't worry, just chill out for a second." Alister's eyes filled with dread as he looked at his grinning friend. He knew what was coming. Kaden turned from him and called out across the room. "Thermal Adjuster, charged forty percent positive."

One of Kaden's two lab-bots rolled over holding a glowing red panel in its one extending arm. It stopped just short of Alister's frozen form and began melting the ice. Kaden looked back at his friendsicle.

"Now Alister, what have learned about touching things that don't belong to us?" he asked in a tone that a parent would take with a child. "It's not very nICE." Alister simply stared at him coldly.

"Don't give me that icy glare. You've always had a bad habit of touching things you shouldn't. This time it was just a little cryogel, but what if next time you touch something that could actually hurt you. I shiver to think what could happen." Alister's expression didn't change. Kaden frowned and waved away the lab-bot, which then removed the heating panel from the half-thawed Lombax.

"Oh co-come on." Alister chattered.

"I don't care if you're bored. You need to stop touching things in my Lab." Kaden pressed. "Are we crystal clear?"

"F-f-fine, I'm s-s-sorry. Now unf-f-freeze me already!"

"That's what I THAW-t." Kaden said authoritatively. After Alister was freed from his icy straight jacket he turned to Kaden with an irritated expression.

"That better not have been the 'test' you called me down for." he growled angrily.

"Sheesh, no need to get frosty." Kaden replied. "Don't worry, that wasn't what I needed you for. You're going to get to test out my latest personal defense energy weapon. I call it 'The Metal Storm'." Kaden moved away to grab a hover cart and began placing equipment onto it.

"Then I'm willing to forget the cryomine thing and help, but only if you promise to cool it with the ice puns." said Alister with a serious tone.

Kaden froze, then, with a huge grin on his face, turned to look Alister.

"Ok. I'll COOL it." Kaden agreed as he restrained from laughing out loud.

Alister bowed his head in defeat and his ears drooped sadly before he slowly joined Kaden in loading up the cart. Once they finished loading the material, Kaden's other lab-bot attached itself to the cart. Kaden then ordered it to follow them to the lift.

They took a quick route to the surface and emerged from the back entrance of the main Science Field building. Their destination was a combat testing arena in the Military Field that Mercatus had rented for Kaden's use.

Kaden had heard of quicker ways to get to their destination if they took the lifts down and traveled through the mountain. A few floors of the Science Field actually connected with floors from the Art and Military Fields, but as a level one he wasn't allowed to access them, or technically know about them for that matter.

* * *

They finally arrived at the underground arena and Kaden was pleased to find it set-up exactly as he'd requested. Scraps of metal were heaped into bins to the side and two lifter-bots with magnetic attachments waited next to them. There were also three combat test androids, each with a projectile and a plasma based weapon, stationed on the other side of the room.

Kaden helped Alister attach the nodes and power couples to his armor before explaining how the invention worked.

"The Metal Storm generates strong magnetic fields around the user." Kaden began to explain. "The idea is to pick up scraps of debris from the battle field and throw them around as a weapon. It's also useful as a shield from solid matter and plasma projectiles. The system itself sucks up a ton of power though, so there won't be much anti-grav. That means you'll have to carry most of the weight of what you pick-up yourself."

Kaden ordered the lifter bots to spread small amounts of scrap around the arena while Alister took up position in its center. When everything was ready Kaden left the arena floor and stood in the observation room before he activated the device on Alister's suit remotely.

There was a pulse of energy and all the metal scrap around arena shuddered as the magnetic field charged into life and stabilized. Alister could see graphic representations of a dozen small magnetic fields blooming into life. They were vector outlined through his helmet's HUD.

"You should be able to see the magnetic fields now." said Kaden over the Alister's helmet intercom. "Try moving them with your hands."

Alister lifted his arms and found that the magnetic fields responded to his movements. He raised some and lowered some experimentally. Whenever the lines representing the fields touched a piece of metal on the floor, the metal would be pulled into it and move along with the field lines. He began gathering all the metal bits on the floor into the magnetic fields and found that he could combine two fields into one and create new fields as well.

Forgetting about the test, Alister began simply playing with his new toy. He collected all the metal into one magnetic field and supercharged its power by closing his fists, so the metal spun faster. He then expanded it around him until there was cyclone of metal shards in the arena with him in the eye of it. He could now see why Kaden had named it 'The Metal Storm'.

Kaden watched both the status readings on his digi-pad and Alister carefully. He smiled to himself as his friend lost track of their objective to test a prototype weapon design and turn into a child throwing metal around with no more than a wave of his hands.

"How does it feel?" Kaden asked over the comm.

"Feels great, getting a little heavy though." replied Alister. He had been noticing that his armor was starting to weigh more where the nodes of the Metal Storm were attached.

"That's normal. I told you that there wouldn't be much grav reduction. You'll just have to carry what you can. I see you figured out how to surround yourself with a metal shell. Try reaching out with your arms then slowly pull them into your chest."

Alister did as he was instructed. When he reached out with his arms the magnetic fields slowed and spread out around him to orbit lazily in a circle. As he pulled his arms closer, the wall of metal began to swirl around him at a much faster pace. Faster and faster it spun until it was a whirlwind metal that looked like it could shred a fully armored Lombax in seconds. To Alister it was almost terrifying to have at his fingertips.

"Alright, it looks stable." came Kaden's voice again. "Moving on to phase two."

"Phase two?" repeated Alister over the comm. He hadn't even known that there was a phase one.

Kaden didn't answer him. Instead Alister watched through the fog of metal as the combat drones armed their rifles and surrounded him. They aimed at his chest and he instinctively put his arms up as gunshots rang out, but he didn't feel anything.

Slowly, with gunfire still chattering, he looked back up to see the drones shooting at him, but the metal slugs they were spraying him with were getting swept up in the magnetic fields. They weren't being stopped completely, but they were being veered off course until finally expending enough energy to be absorbed into the maelstrom. Alister laughed to himself in relief.

"Phase three." said Kaden in monotone.

The firing stopped and the droids dropped their projectile weapons before aiming their plasma rifles at Alister. He flinched again at hissing noise of discharging plasma, but yet again nothing hit him. He looked up to see the balls of super-heated gas being shattered against the spinning wall of metal and flow along the magnetic field lines, turning some of the metal a bright cherry red as the debris absorbed the heat.

"I'm glad that part was successful." Kaden said with satisfaction. Alister could almost hear him grinning through the intercom. "I wasn't sure how the magnetic properties of plasma would work here, but it's working better than expected."

"Yah, I'm glad too." said Alister in mild annoyance, though he was sure that his friend had extensively tested the device before firing live rounds at him. "If it hadn't work we'd have to test my theory. You know the one where you kick a Lombax in the tail so hard it comes out the other end."

"I told you, the tail is too short. It'd never make it through all the intestines." said Kaden with his usual response to Alister's usual threat.

"Still worth a try in my opinon." said Alister, finishing their joke.

"All right, on to the next test." Kaden declared as he refocused himself. "Try to hit the drones with the metal by striking out at them, and get creative. In theory you should be able to make all the metal blast a drone like a tidal wave."

Alister tried to do as Kaden wanted, but the task turned out to be much more challenging than he'd expected. When he tried punching out with his arms the metal in front of his swing would fly out, but it retained its momentum and missed its target. He was forced to try to predict how the metal would react and if he was off his target even just a little the metal would take serious effort to rein back into the funnel.

The constantly shifting weight didn't help either. When he threw metal, some pieces would have enough momentum to leave his magnetic fields which would make his suit slightly lighter, but then another magnetic field would pick it back up and the weight would return in another location. It was even worse when the metal escaped above him and was reintegrated as it came back down with the additional gravitational momentum. It was literally like trying to juggle thousands of shards of metal. Each change in weight was relatively small, but the strain of all of them combined was quickly adding up and Alister was getting tired. On top of that he was still barely able to hit the targets and they were stationary.

"Kaden," said Alister with an exhausted weez, "I don't think this is a very practical offensive weapon. Don't get me wrong, I like the not getting shot part, but in a firefight I don't think I'd want to be armed with this."

Kaden pondered Alister's words. He'd know this was a possibility despite the successful lab tests. He was starting to get the sad, but familiar feeling of a project that was doomed. The system also had another very big down side.

"That isn't even the worst of it." said Kaden over the intercom.

"Then what is?" Alister questioned back. He regretted asking immediately since he knew how he'd likely get his answer.

The two lifter bots picked up a massive metal ingot that had been lying on the floor next to the scrap carts. Both androids strained their joints as they tried to move the heavy block of metal into the cart, which groaned as the weight added to it. Together they both pushed the cart into the metallic tornado.

Alister watched as one of the moving magnetic fields made contact with the cart and a moment later he slammed into the ground, the weight of his armor suddenly overwhelming as it attempted to lift the cart and the ingot inside. Alister tried to disperse the field around the cart, but succeeded in only pushing more fields towards it, increasing his suit's focus on trying to lift the new metal.

Luckily for Alister the magnetic field generators were mostly on the front of his armor, which was between him and the floor, so most of the weight simply pinned him down. Had he landed on his back however, he may have been crushed by them.

The weight suddenly disappeared and the bits of metal that had been left spinning above Alister began raining down on the floor. After they'd all fallen, Kaden walked up to Alister's sprawled form without even a glance towards him. His eyes were glued to his digi-pad and his hand on his chin as he considered the results.

"Was that actually necessary?" asked Alister as he rolled over to face Kaden.

"Well this was a test of the system's limits and that includes user limits, so kind of." answered Kaden with a quick glance and shrug. He scribbled a few more notes on his digi-pad before attaching it to his belt and leaning down to give Alister a hand up.

"I'll admit it was cool, but it was just short of actually practical." said Alister honestly. "Maybe with years of practice and another hundred pounds of muscle I'd be comfortable taking it into a fight, but not now." Kaden nodded his reluctant agreement.

He was now wondering if there was any way that he could salvage the design. Maybe make it attached to a disk to allow a person to throw out a single hurricane of magnetic force or a large magnetic ball that could roll across a battle field, crushing and picking up enemies. The only problem would be figuring out how the user could control and direct the weapon while still reacting and fighting in a battle.

"I had hoped to use the storm as a way to fight Kor without giving him an opening to attack, but I guess not." he admitted sadly.

"You're still obsessed with that?" asked Alister with mild surprise. "That was months ago. We haven't even seen him since he got promoted to level two."

"That only makes it worse. The way I see it, I've worked for all this time and I'm still no closer to beating him than I was back then. We're not even level two's yet. Kor accomplished that in his first few weeks."

"Then I have some good news for you!" shouted Varick from the arena entrance. Neither Kaden nor Alister had seen him come in.

"Oh?" said Kaden curiously. He was a little annoyed at how the president always seemed to pop up as if he'd been watching the whole time though.

"Indeed," beamed Varick happily, ignoring Kaden's constant expression of annoyance towards him, "for both of you in fact. As of today you are both level twos!"

* * *

Kaden, Alister and Varick all sat in the Military Field lounge. Unlike the Science Field, the these lounges were stripped to the bare minimum. Just hard chairs, thin tables, and a few holo-screens tuned to Nova channels. The only real purpose they served were as staging areas before boarding one of the shuttles docked on the this side of the mountain or going to some kind of group activity, like war.

"What do you mean we're level twos?" Kaden asked again. Varick had refused to answer the question until after they'd cleaned up the arena and made it to the lounge area.

"Exactly as I said, in just a short while you will both receive official notification through your NIDs that you're status as Nova Academy student has been upgraded to that of a level two student along with all the security clearance and privileges that come with it." Varick said, apparently very pleased about it.

"But why?" asked Alister. He'd expected Kaden to be promoted quickly in the science field, but he himself had only performed marginally better than the average student. He hadn't expected to get promoted until at least the end of the first semester.

"Not at all." replied Varick. "You sell yourself too short. Getting second in the MSE Tournament on top of your near perfect aptitude for all basic weapons and combat makes you an excellent candidate for promotion. Unlike Kaden here who scored a zero at the tournament. Even with an equally remarkable class score, there would have been no way he'd have been promoted as a Military student."

"Then why am I?" asked Kaden in annoyance. He was sure Varick was purposefully prodding him. Varick simply smiled back at him.

"Because you're a Science Field member," he answered, "and your scores are well above what the average level one student would display. That was partly thanks to me." Varick finished with a self-satisfied look.

"How?" Kaden asked with a sigh, knowing Varick had yet again been meddling in his life.

"Because I told your instructors to give you all that extra work and those harder tests." Varick said proudly. "I'm sure you've noticed the schoolwork you were getting was twice as difficult as your classmates." Kaden looked confused at Varick's words, which made Varick pause and match his expression. "Didn't you notice that the material you were being tested on was from next semester's classes?" he asked.

Kaden shook his head slowly as he tried to recall ever having thought his school work was too difficult.

"No." he answered simply. Varick's smile didn't disappear, but it twitched and now looked slightly forced.

"Well that's...That's actually really irritating." said Varick through his teeth. "Whatever, now you two can leave Nova this vacation and still get school credits." He added dismissively as his expression returned to its usual cheerfulness. Both Kaden and Alister looked confused this time.

"I was planning on experimenting in the Lab all winter." said Kaden.

"And I was going to visit Kreeli Comet for awhile to help with the mining security detail." added Alister.

"I know. That's what I was talking about. Uh, not what Kaden was saying. Both of you have been contracted by Azimuth Trillim Mining Industries and this is precisely why Nova Academy allows level two and three students to go on contracted missions at all. Originally no students worked outside of the academy until level four, but some families, like the Azimuths, usually make their children come home for the vacation periods to help with and learn about the family business. This caused some problems however, since many students used the vacation periods to try and improve their class rank. Eventually Nova Academy allowed level two and three students to complete contracts by request so that students could learn about their likely future occupation and still get credit for it."

"Hold on." interrupted Kaden. "I was requested too?" Varick nodded and was about to speak, but paused as he noticed the chronometer on one of the Holo-boards.

"You know what?" he said has he leaned back in his chair. "Just read the request for yourselves."

As he finished his sentence a message alert blinked in Kaden's peripheral vision and from Alister's simultaneous reaction he must have received one too. Kaden and Alister both touched the table and a holo-screen was displayed for each of them.

Kaden opened the message from his NID. Just as Varick had said, it was an official congratulations at having been selected for promotion to level two followed by a list of floors in the Science Field that he now had access to, new classes that he was allowed to take, a small section about school events he was now allowed to participate in, and an explanation as to how the contract system worked.

About a minute into reading the first message a second one appeared. Kaden opened it as well and found it to be the contract request from Azimuth Trillium Mining Industries. It explained that they wanted him to work as a temp over the winter vacation for the Kreeli Comet security division. It also explained that there had been frequent sightings of Agorians, a very aggressive warrior race, recently around the comet's sector. It looked like the CEO of ATMI (Alister's father) was concerned that they might attempt a raid on his mining operation.

"This is the first I've heard of this." said Alister somewhat irritably. "This looks like a copy of a formal job posting. Dad's probably hiring more than a few new security forces."

"Well I can't say I blame him." Varick said. "Agorians are just dumb enough to think they have a chance at taking a Lombax territory. They never seem to learn, though that might be because they stopped evolving as a species. When does it say you leave?" Alister checked the message again.

"It says we have until the end of the semester to respond. I guess that's when we go." he answered.

"Hmmm, that's not enough time to finish a new project." said Kaden as he thought about the contract. "I hope Mercatus will be ok with what I've made so far."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine." said Varick as he stood up. "The best news is that I can now begin authorizing Science Field missions and have Kaden officially register as a participant."

"Funny, I don't remember giving my consent to anything." Kaden said knowing there was probably nothing he could do about it.

"Little details." replied Varick cheerfully. "Well then, just in case I don't get a chance, or you know...forget, let me wish you both good luck on your first Nova Academy contract."

Varick left the table and strode jovially out the doors. Kaden shook his head as he went back to reading the contract in more detail. He still needed to test the majority of his latest inventions in actual combat before he used them to fight Kor. If he was lucky enough, and if the Agorians were unlucky enough, he'd soon get the chance to do just that.


	16. Kreeli Comet

Kaden and Alister were traveling on a transport ship that was heading for the Lombax held territory of Kreeli Comet. They had been aboard for over twelve hours since it departed from Mt. Super Nova and it was now on final approach vectors to their destination.

The two friends double checked that they had repacked all their gear before leaving their temporary quarters in the passenger section. They now stood by the ship's air-locks, waiting for it to dock so they could get off.

They weren't the only ones though. Several other burly looking Lombaxes stood with them. They had all gotten on at either a stop before or a stop after the ship had docked at Nova, so Kaden and Alister were the only students getting off, but they were likely here for the same reason. They were all clearly fighters and most seemed to know each other quite well. They spoke and laughed with each other, talking about recent missions or battles and about the likely hood that they'll get to score a few Agorian kills on this one.

There was a loud hiss of air filling a vacuum and the doors opened to a long tunnel leading into the starport. The group walked down it calmly and orderly until they came to a large staging area full of equipment, Lombaxes, and robots. One robot stood with a digi-pad at the foot of the exit ramp. Most of the Lombaxes greeted it and walked past as it marked them down on its pad, but it also stop a few and pulled them aside. Alister and Kaden were the last to leave.

"Hello Bob." Alister said casually.

"Greetings young master." replied Bob in a synthetic voice. "I hope your flight was comfortable?"

"Nothing to complain about. This is my friend Kaden." Alister said as he introduced Kaden. Bob ran down the list on his digi-pad until he found Kaden's name,

"Yes, I see. If you wouldn't mind, please come over here with the others for orientation." Bob seemed to be only talking to Kaden as he indicated the area where the other Lombaxes stood after having been pulled aside earlier.

"It's ok Bob," interjected Alister, "Kaden's already been registered and I can show him around."

Bob's positronic brain processed the information for a moment before he nodded and turning to address the others Lombaxes. Alister then walked across the staging area and down a hallway with Kaden following behind. As they left he caught the beginning of Bob's orientation,

"Greetings. My serial designation is ADDM-303, but you may refer to me by my informal designation 'Bob'. I will be guiding you first time employees to the living quarters you will be using for the duration of your stay and I will be responsible for delivering your duties and assignments while you are under the employ of the Azimuth Trillium Mining Industries' Defense Division. Before that however, you will need to get NID security clearance."

"What was that about?" asked Kaden as they walked out of earshot.

"Ah, that's just Bob." Alister answered. "His protocol with any new employee to the Defense Division is to show them around and explain the way things work. Since you were registered with the Engineering Division that time you came with your father, your NID is already on file. I on the other hand have been to the Defense Division many times." Alister finished his last sentence with a proud tone.

Kaden followed him all the way to the living quarters. The rooms were divided so that each one contained two employees, which worked out well for Kaden and Alister. Alister knew the place well and was able to lead them straight to their room where they dropped their bags before getting ready to unload them.

"Well that's all done." Alister declared as they both finished unpacking. "Let's head over to engineering and see what all this security is really about."

"The engineering department?" repeated Kaden questioningly. "Don't you mean the management office?" Alister shook his head,

"Something tells me that you're dad will be a little easier to reach than my dad."

* * *

The heart of the Kreeli Comet mining operation had been dubbed Miner's City by the men and women who worked in it. Originally only consisting of a single space port and a trillium processing plant, Miner's City had slowly grown as more stations were added over the years and mining operations on the comet increased. Today it stood like an actual city, nestled in a massive crater on the comet's surface.

Kaden and Alister had taken a tram shuttle from the Defense Division's barracks to the R&D building of the Engineering Division. After arriving they approached to the robotic secretary at the front desk and were about to ask her permission to enter, but she spoke first,

"Here to see the chief engineer are we?" she said in a bored, metallic tone.

"Yah, how'd you know?" Kaden asked in reply. The secretary laid her head on her metal hand lazily and pointed to Alister with the other,

"Well, he's clearly an Azimuth and they only ever come down here to yell at Cerdas, and you..." she began while pointing to Kaden, "You look just like him. I'm guessing you're either his clone or offspring. He's in his office on the third level. If you get there and there's nothing but rubble and smoke then he's either in his back-up office on the second level or in the med-bay."

She returned to her holo-monitor the moment she had finished talking. Alister shrugged and they left to go find Kaden's father's office. Kaden had been to Engineering Division before so he knew his way around. This building was the R&D's office wing, but it wasn't very big since it only housed facilities for deskwork. Kaden much preferred the R&D mechanics labs or even just the machine shop over this area. His father had said that he wasn't even allowed to bring active experimental material into the building, but judging by the secretary's comments and by the fact that Kaden's father's office had been of the fifth floor the last time he'd come, it was obvious that his dad didn't always follow that rule.

They both arrived at a large set of double door with the words 'Head of Azimuth Engineering Division' on it. Luckily it was on the third level and seemingly intact. Alister waved his hand over the door control and it opened upon reading his NID.

The doors pulled back to reveal a large room with several holo-projectors attached to the ceiling and a large desk stuck in the wall about halfway up from the ground. At the far end of the room, a tan furred Lombax stood while tapping his chin as he studied the large amount of information projected onto the wall. He didn't seem to notice them come in.

Kaden looked to Alister and they shared a nod before begining to walk quietly over to him. As they got closer they crouched down low, so as not to be seen in his peripheral vision. Just as they were approaching pouncing distance, the Lombax's ear twitched. Alister dove out of the way as a reflex and narrowly avoided a glowing beam of energy the Lombax had fired from a gauntlet the moment he'd spun around.

Kaden was caught in the blast, but nothing happened. He stood there in confusion for a few seconds before he began floating off the ground and up to the ceiling before sticking to the roof.

"Hello son." Kaden's father said cheerfully as he looked up. He then turned to Alister, "Quick as always, eh lad? If only my son was as quick on his feet." he said with a tone of mock disappointment. Kaden thrashed around on the ceiling, trying to stabilize himself and get his footing.

"What kind of parent shoots their kid the moment they reunite?" Kaden asked as he managed to sit cross-legged on the ceiling.

"The same parent whose child tries to sneaks up on them while they're focused on work." His father answered, unapologetically.

He then tapped a button his gauntlet and gravity returned to Kaden. It didn't come back all at once though, so he didn't hit the ground too hard, but it wasn't a soft landing either. He got up off the ground while rubbing the part of his back that he'd landed on. He and his father then approached each other and eyed each other cautiously, before embracing.

"It's good to see you Kaden." his father said happily. "How's Nova Academy?"

"It was…interesting the first few weeks," began Kaden as the two separated, "but I've gotten used to the place." His father nodded a few times as he listened,

"Did you get in any kind of trouble yet?" his father asked with an inquisitive stare.

"No." Kaden answered honestly. "I haven't officially broken any rules and there isn't anything on my record." His father stared at him suspiciously,

"Sorana's keeping a close eye on you huh?" Kaden averted his eyes and bowed his head.

"Yes." he admitted gloomily. His father laughed.

"Thank goodness for that at least. Any bullies beating you up?" Kaden looked back up at his father and was confused by the questions.

"Of course not. You know I haven't had a bully problem since that time with the toilets in Prime Ed." Kaden's father laughed again, much harder this time.

"Yes, that was a fun trip to the principal's office." he said reminiscently. "Not that they all weren't fun of course. Now are you sure you don't have a bully problem?" he pressed. Kaden simply nodded and his father sighed. "You know Kaden, I received holo-vid of highlights from this year's opening tournament."

Kaden threw his head back and groaned. His father's attitude suddenly turned serious.

"I watched how you lost to that student in the red armor, now tell me the truth…Are you plotting some kind of revenge and building an arsenal of dangerous weapons?" Kaden went back to staring at the ground and hesitated a moment before answering.

"Yes." he answered guiltily. Cerdas laid a hand on Kaden's head and ruffled his ears.

"That's my boy." He said with a smile. Kaden looked up and grinned back at him. Alister put his face in his palm.

"So what's that actually for?" Kaden asked, changing the subject and pointing to the gauntlet on his father's arm.

"It's called a degravitator." he explained enthusiastically. "It temporarily reverses the effects of gravity so that the miners can move heavy equipment with ease and there's no need for large grav-rigs."

"Wait, Didn't you tell me that you weren't allowed to bring experimental weapons into the offices?" Kaden asked as he remebered being told of the rule.

"He's not." answered a stern and authoritative voice from the side of the room.

The three of them turned in unison to look at a hologram depicting a strong looking, white furred Lombax standing rigidly with his hands behind his back. His attention was solely on Cerdas.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times not to bring your insane inventions here. You have a place with reinforced walls and maintenance workers for you to blow up."

"But Azimuth," Cerdas whined, "the holo-projectors in there suck. The ones in here are way better for holo-vid gaaaaaa err, I mean...the important conference calls I am constantly making. All the back and forth travel is wasted time. Besides, I'm very careful with the equipment." Mr. Azimuth sighed and shook his head,

"If I could find a single engineer in this galaxy that could make trillium rigs half as good as you. I know you Cerdas and it's only a matter of time before you use that thing to throw another desk through a wall. Where is your desk anyway?" Mr. Azimuth begun to look around the room as the three physical Lombaxes looked above him at the office desk jutting from the wall on just on the other side. Kaden's dad spoke up again before he turned enough to see it.

"I moved it, for...safety reasons. Yah, I didn't want to risk doing exactly what you just said and there's no way I would have tried to open a drawer after forgetting that the gauntlet was still activated." Mr. Azimuth eyed him suspiciously. "Come on Azimuth, you didn't call just to lecture me on my equipment handling now did you?" Mr. Azimuth nodded.

"No, I called to see how you were doing on those orbit and trajectory calculations for Kreeli and the IRIS, but first…" the holographic Lombax turned to his son. "Alister." he said simply. Alister stood up straighter as he replied,

"Yes sir?"

"I heard you are doing well at school. You placed second in the tournament and managed to earn the rank of Level two in the academy. Good work." he added with nod of approval.

"Thank you sir." Alister replied stiffly and without emotion. Mr. Azimuth continued,

"Because of that, you no doubt have been able to accept my contract before you left, so you will be receiving school accreditation for your efforts here, but don't think that means you are guaranteed a good report. I expect you to complete your missions and patrols with all the proficiency of a hired security officer. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Alister replied just as stiffly as before.

"About that," Kaden interrupted, "the contract didn't mention anything specific about what's going on with the Agorians." Mr. Azimuth turned to look at Kaden before addressing both them.

"In the recent months there have been several instances of Agorian ships intruding on Kreeli star space. For that reason I increased security and shortly after, as I had feared, a large scale Agorian assault force ran the shipping blockades and engaged the comet's defenses."

Kaden and Alister were stunned. They had both thought that they were just here as a precautionary measure. It was a surprise hear that not only were the Agorian's actually dumb enough to attack a Lombax territory, that they had already done it and the battle was over. Kaden's father saw their expressions and chimed in,

"I don't know what's got them so riled up in this sector or what they were after, but they weren't able damage any of the civilian property or the mining operations. However, it wasn't a complete success for us." Mr. Azimuth continued from there,

"Their attack formation was widely spread out. It was clear that their intention were to try and land on the comet itself. During the battle, a few of the Overwatch satellites went down and left blind spots in the monitoring grid. After the battle, the comet's surface was sensor swept thoroughly, but there may be Agorians hiding out in some of the larger craters and abandoned mining sites. Most of the new recruits will be used primarily as scouting forces to make sure that nothing is lurking on Kreeli that isn't Lombax." Kaden's father then spoke next,

"Now I know you boys have been on Kreeli's surface before, but I'll tell you to be careful anyway. You never know what you mind find out there in the ice." he paused for a moment as if remembering something before smiling and continuing. "And I mean you could find ANYTHING." he said with a knowing look to the holographic Mr. Azimuth who then nodded in agreement.

Kaden didn't know what they were talking about and asked about it, but they both dismissed it and changed the subject. However, Kaden was sure that, if it was important, he'd find out one day.

* * *

Most Lombaxes rely on their agility and speed while they were in combat to avoid damage as much as inflict it. Naturally, the extremely nimble race one day designed a device to help them become even more so. The hoverboots were a sturdy pair of simple combat boots combined with several high-density ion coils. When activated, the coils super-charged the air and blasted it from the bottom of the boots as plasma, propelling the wearer across the ground at great speeds.

Kaden was strapping on his hoverboots in the staging room of the hoverboot course airlock. He was also wearing his newly upgraded armor and looking forward to trying out some of its features in an open world environment. As a policy, Kaden and Alister were both required to get a medical check-up and complete a proficiency run on the hoverboot practice course to prove that they can in fact still use hoverboots.

"This ought to be good." Alister said as he finished suiting up. "How much of that suit is still considered experimental?" Kaden finished putting on his gear as well and stood up to face Alister.

"Life's an experiment!" he proclaimed proudly. Alister rolled his eyes and then looked back at him sternly.

"You mean you have THAT much untested gear on you? That's ridiculous."

"Well, I brought this stuff here so that I COULD test it." Kaden retorted. "Now come on." Alister shook his head and shrugged before putting on his helmet and moving to the airlock with him.

The first set of doors closed behind them and sealed with a hiss. A few seconds later the room was filled with an even louder hissing noise and the temperature dropped dramatically as freezing air swept in through the slowly opening second set of doors. Kaden rubbed his gloved hands together as he adjusted to the low temperature, his breath crystallizing as it left his mouth.

The two Lombaxes walked out into the pure white landscape that reached out into space. The whole scene however, was muffled with an unending flurry of snow that covered everything. The wind blew hard and Kaden felt it hit his face and ears, bringing its chilling touch to his skin even through his fur.

Kaden gave his suit a mental command and the main power source in his chest glowed as the internal heating system literally warmed up.

"What? Can't stand a little cold?" Alister asked mockingly as he weighed his wrench in his hand. Kaden shrugged while holding his own wrench,

"It's not that I can't. I just don't have to and I choose not to." he answered without a trace of shame.

Alister's reply was the roar of his hoverboots being activated and turned up to full throttle. He burned a trail in the snow as he blasted off into the horizon. Kaden laughed to himself as he fired his own boots and chased after him.

According to the obstacle course's parameters, Bob would monitor them as they began the course and record their times as they completed two laps around it. The course slowly climbed in elevation and contained three accelerator pads, two spring-loaded contraptions simply called 'jumpers', one set of kick pads, and a hoverbolt that would launch them off the a cliff and force them to glide back down to the starting position.

Alister hit the first accelerator pad and his speed doubled as he was propelled to the first jumper. It released its spring and sent Alister flying onto the next ledge. Kaden followed close behind him and hit first jumper just as it finished resetting. He knew that if he was going to beat Alister, he'd have to pass him before the second jumper or else its reset delay would neutralize any distance he'd gained.

Alister hit the second accelerator pad and blasted off a ramp. He flew over a deep gap and slammed into the first of a series of kick pads and kicked off. As Kaden hit the same kick pad a moment later, he placed his fists down next to his boots on its surface. With a thought he activated the repulsors that he'd built into his gloves and zipped through the air with a flip to land on the next pad. The extra boost his special move gave him granted him about 0.73 seconds on Alister for every pad he hit. By the end of the kick pad set, he was close enough to touch Alister's tail.

Kaden remained just behind Alister as they reached an area of the plateau were spikes of ice jutted up from the ground. With flurries of snow decreasing visibility, Kaden couldn't see far enough ahead to plot out a route. Here Alister began gaining a larger lead as his faster reflexes took over.

Kaden watched as Alister dove, spun, and weaved through the ice, taking mere milliseconds to both make the decision to move and follow through with it. Kaden on the other hand, with his calculating nature, was much slower to react as he took just a few more precious milliseconds to make each move.

The ice forest opened up to a small clearing and revealed a large ice wall ahead of them. There was only one gap in the frozen barrier and it was blocked with a thin sheet ice. Alister didn't slowdown as he swung his wrench, shattering it like glass.

He zoomed through the gap that he'd made and disappeared from view. Right behind him, Kaden passed through it as well and immediately back hard on his hoverboots when he came to another solid ice wall. It only took him a moment to regain sight of Alister, already speeding along its length before turning through another gap. It was likely that he had already known about the wall from past experience.

Kaden followed and curved around the opening only to find that he needed to follow the wall back again on this side in order to reach the last accelerator pad. Alister was there way ahead of him, about five seconds, boosted straight into last jumper and landed up onto the next ledge.

As Kaden landed on the same ledge five seconds later, he was greeted with the image of Alister spinning around the axle of the hoverbolt while guiding its targeting arrow. A ramp with accelerator arrows sprang up from the ground and Alister aimed the arrow right down the center of the ramp. He then disengaged the hoverbolt and zipped towards the ramp before sailing off into the air. As he fell, he turned back around with a huge smile and yelled, "To slow!"

His voice was barely audible over the rush of the wind, but Kaden heard it clearly. He copied Alister's actions on the hoverbolt and followed his trajectory down the cliffside. Alister was just below him, the flare from his hoverboots clearly visible as he glided slowly to the ground. Kaden kept his hoverboots off and waited until just after any sane Lombax would have reactivated them to fire up their ion coils at full power and slow his decent. He hit the ground with thud and puff of snow.

Alister only spared him a quick glance before he took off on his second lap of the course. Kaden followed, but his landing took longer to recover from than he'd thought. He made up a few seconds on the kick pads again, but was still behind Alister and on pace to repeat their earlier lap as they passed through the ice forest.

Once again Alister sped through the gap in the first ice wall and disappeared as he turned to go around the second one. As Kaden followed he began charging his repulsors.

The way he'd been using them, to push off faster from the kickpads, was not their real function. In fact, it was only the byproduct of activating their true function. They were not designed to repulse himself, they were designed to repulse heavy weapons fire.

There was a piercing whine that echoed across the frozen air as a white energy barrier flashed into life just ahead of Kaden. It emanated from the back of his hands and only covered his front, but it was all he needed. Using like a plow, he burst through the ice wall in a shower of rock and snow.

Alister nearly lost his balance as the wall next to him exploded and Kaden followed the wave of debris that fell while encased in a giant white orb energy. He avoided the largest chunks of ice,but was still showered with the smaller pebbles and hail.

Grinning with satisfaction, Kaden was now racing dead even with Alister. Just ahead was the last accelerator pad and with both of them moving at full speed, there was no way for either to gain ground. They moved neck and neck as they simultaneously hit the pad and raced on.

Their shoulders pressed against each other as they both fought to line up for the last jumper. They each managed to get one foot on as the its spring released and sent the two of them into the air.

Next came the hoverbolt, but neither of them were willing to give up. They both reached it at the same time and began spinning around it at equal speeds. It was an odd moment since they each had the ability to affect the arrow's course. They only way either of them could proceed was if they worked together. Also, if one of them changed speeds too much more than the other, they could collide on the small radius of the pad.

As the arrow rotated towards the newly arisen accelerator ramp, they both paid close attention. Neither one of them could tell who would be first to line up for the opportunity to disengage and move onward. It was like playing musical chairs.

The moment came and it was Alister who sped off the hoverbolt plate and over the ramp first. Kaden followed half a second behind, but still behind. He also knew that Alister wouldn't let him win by free falling to last moment like he'd done last time. Instead Kaden shot off the ramp and dove head first towards the ground, sticking his boots up toward the sky and propelling himself downward and past Alister.

Very carefully he flipped back around, but his momentum was too great for his boots alone to stop in time. He once again activated his repulsors, and cycled them on and off rapidly. The small shockwave he'd used to blast off the kick pads was used again and again, with each time slowing him down little by little as the force of a shield being formed grabbed the air like a parachute.

He was almost to ground and just one more pulse away from a safe landing when he felt an intense pain searing the side of his ribs. With a loud pop and flash of light, Kaden was thrown off balance and sent careening into the snow. He landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him and a small fire being snuffed out by the snow at his side.

The air was filled with the roar of jets as Alister rushed over to his friend. After a quick look over of Kaden's condition though, he calmed down.

"I'll give you a seven." he said after catching his breath. "I liked the dive and acrobatics, but you need to stick the landing if you want a decent score." Kaden opened his eyes to stare up at Alister's face as he felt his suit's heaters shut down.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your injured friend." he asked as he mentally ran through the circuitry in his suit to figure out what had blown.

"Maybe if it wasn't totally your fault." he replied. "Was getting blown up worth this little race?"

"I won, so yes." Kaden answered. Alister tilted his head to one side with a slight mischievous smile.

"You may have hit ground first, but officially you didn't win. You see, due to people hurting themselves racing on the course so much, it is now only allowed to be run by one person at a time. That means Bob only keeps track of the first person to cross the start line until they finish. You technically haven't started your run yet." Kaden leaned his head back into the snow and stared up at the sky.

"You're a terrible person." he said after a moment of silence. Alister shrugged indifferently,

"Hey, I didn't tell you chase after me, bulldozer your way through a wall and overload your suit in an effort to beat me. Maybe you should run a few more tests before you start using your little toys though."

"It wasn't the repulsor that malfunctioned." began Kaden as he figured out the cause of the explosion. "My heating pads got over charged when my suit's power core raised its output."

"So, is this a lesson about growing a tail and dealing with a little chill, or is it still a lesson about testing more?"

"Why would I go through hours of lab tests for a fur warmer? You'd have to be an idiot not to wire one right." Alister grinned happily,

"You know you just…"

"Yes. I do realize that I just called myself an idiot." Kaden said as he cut Alister's words off. "Just tell me how bad it looks." Alister took another look at the palm-sized hole in Kaden's suit.

"Its burnt pretty Bad," he said as he examined it. "All the fur's gone. No bleeding and no Nanotech activation, so I think you'll live. It looks like a real stinger though."

"Yes it is." Kaden said with a grimace.

Alister offered Kaden his hand and helped pull him to his feet. He moved around experimentally to see how much walking would hurt. From what Alister could see, it was not inconsequential.

"Let's get you to the med-bay." he told Kaden. "While we're there we can get our check-ups done and we'll come back later. You'd just better hope the mad doctor isn't in."


	17. Close Encounters

A medical-bot guided Kaden to an examination room with a stool in the center and medical equipment on a table. Once inside it then asked him if he was capable of removing his suit. Luckily the protective undershirt that he'd worn for exactly this kind of thing had prevented his armor from fusing with his skin, which was common for this kind of accident. He told the medical-bot that he could remove it unassisted and it then instructed him to do so while waiting a medical professional arrived before leaving him to it.

Kaden set about the task of gingerly removing all the gear he'd been wearing. Removing his boots was difficult to do without bending over too much, but the worst part was removing the top half of his jumpsuit. While none of the suit itself was connected to him, there was a risk that some material had gotten into his wound before the heat had cauterised it. He'd finally gotten it off and was just about to pull down the lower half when an extremely pretty, white furred, female Lombax walked in.

She wore a simple set of nurse's scrubs, but they seemed to be slightly too small for her. Kaden's first thought was that she looked familiar, almost like she resembled someone he knew. He then realized that he was about to remove one of only two pieces of clothing now separating him from complete nudity. He then refected sincerly on how his decision to wear his favorite 'Crimson Commander' underwear today had been a bad one.

"Don't mind me." she said with a friendly smile after seeing Kaden hesitate. "My name's Gigi. I'll be administering your physical today and patching up your burn wound."

Kaden nodded in reply and took a deep breath. He reminded himself that she was medical professional and that he had nothing to be concerned about. With a considerable amount of mental will, he then finished removing his suit while the nurse gathered a few items from the table and put on a pair of micro-goggles before turning back to him and walking over.

"Raise your arm please." she instructed kindly.

Kaden did as he was told and winced as the movement flexed the burnt skin on his ribs. The nurse bent down and took a close look at the wound from various levels of magnification. Kaden winced again as she prodded a few areas with a metal examination prong.

"Hmmmm." she intoned after a moment of observation. "Looks like you've got at least one bit of wire in here. We'll have to pull it out before I repair it." She picked up a metal cylinder and used it to spray a cool liquid on Kaden's wound. A moment later he felt the pain in his side numb away. She stood up and indicated the stool, "Have a seat here and let's make sure there's nothing else in there."

Kaden moved to the stool and sat on it while the nurse gathered more equipment. She picked up several medical monitoring discs and walked back over to him again. She then bent down to put one over his heart. Kaden felt a nanogel coating liquify at the detection of body heat and suction cup the device to his skin and fur. The nurse then put another one under his arm on his uninjured side. It tickled as she pushed it into place and Kaden fought urge to laugh.

Suddenly she stood up straight and Kaden found himself staring straight ahead at chest height. He averted his eyes away reflexively and she stuck another sensor on his neck without the slightest hint of being conscious about the awkward position. As she continued to check and align the sensors Kaden kept his breathing shallow and his head turned as he waited for the nurse to finish. He tried to focus his mind away from his discomfort and began re-deriving the equation to find the final digit of Pi in his mind when the nurse went to place another sensor on his back without walking around him.

Kaden held his breath as the already small amount of space between him and the nurse was dived. He refocused his mind on his equations even harder and hoped that she'd finish her work before his air supply ran out. He was almost through the twenty-third derivation step when the sensor the nurse was working on suddenly sent a shock through his system. Caught completely by surprised, Kaden inhaled deeply through his nostrils and with the air came the smell of nurse's fur along with her perfume and traces of anti-septic chemicals that had set in it. His tail unconsciously curled around the leg of his stool and everything in his mind was wiped clean. He gripped his seat tightly as his conscious and subconscious battled each other for control of his fractured psyche.

Of all sentient races in universe, Lombaxes had one of the most acute senses of smells. To them fragrances and scents played a huge role in their culture's more intimate social interactions. Going from not breathing at all to suddenly recieve so much olfactory stimulation would be a lot to handle for any Lombax, let alone one of Kaden's age. This was the first time he had ever felt such a powerful dose of a female Lombax's scent.

By the time Kaden regained his senses, the nurse was sitting with her legs crossed in a chair by the instrument table while monitoring a digi-pad. Kaden's blood pressure dropped rapidly and he felt a little woozy, but he couldn't figure out the exact reason for it. He shook himself and just assumed that it must have been the numbing agent on his wound getting into his blood stream.

"Is your burn bothering you?" the nurse asked with concern, snapping Kaden back to reality.

"No." he replied earnestly and was surprised to find that his mouth had gone dry.

"That's good. Then, if it's ok with you, I'll just finish the physical exam now since I already have the sensors hooked up."

Kaden nodded his consent and let his eyes wander around the room as he waited for the sensors to gather their data. He took a closer look at the instruments on the table and recognized all of them and their functions. He then scanned the room as he read the medical posters and memorized the medical information he didn't already know. Eventually his eyes found the name tag on the nurse's outfit. It said 'Gigi' in big, red, italicized letters and had little hearts where the 'I's were dotted. The Nurse looked up and noticed Kaden staring. She slowly followed his line of sight and ended up looking straight down at her chest. Kaden felt his heart stop and his face burn with embarrassment. Luckily the nurse smiled with realization and grabbed her name tag. She studied if for a moment, as if seeing it for the first time, and then raised her eyes to Kaden.

"I just can't seem to control my urge to add little designs to my nametags," she explained cheerfully, "even though the head doctor has told me a hundred times not to."

Though her words were said with her same cheerful tone, Kaden got the odd feeling that her smile was being forced toward the end of her sentence. He just nodded again and kept his silence. At this point he was simply afraid to say anything for fear of embarrassing himself. A few minutes later the nurse put down her digi-pad and stood up.

"Well, aside for a large patch of burnt skin in your side, you're perfectly healthy." she said as she began removing the sensors from Kaden. "There doesn't seem to be any other foreign matter in you and your internal NID system is undamaged. Just lay down on the operating table with your wound facing out and I'll be right over."

Kaden was about to ask what table she was talking about, but before he could a thin board extended from the opposite wall and sat perfectly horizontal. He stood up and began moving towards it carefully as he found his legs to be unusually wobbly. They must have fallen asleep while he'd been sitting on the stool. He then laid down on the bed as he'd been instructed to and waited.

The nurse wheeled her chair over to him and sat down. She adjusted it to the right height for easy access to his wound and slid her micro-goggles back on. She sprayed the numbing agent on it again before taking a laser scalpel and cutting into his side with a hiss of burning scar tissue.

"Playing with some uncertified, homemade toys were we?" she asked casually as she worked.

"It was just a simple heating device." he answered, still ashamed of his dumb mistake.

"Well, try and be a little more careful next time." she said as she pulled a small piece of wire out of Kaden's side and dropped it into a dish. "I'd hate to see anything else happen to this fine body of yours."

"Uh…" was all Kaden could say in reply.

She simply smiled and rubbed a very cold gel on his burn patch that made him flinch in surprise. Kaden could feel the wound-specific nanites penetrate the scar tissue on his side and begin their process of replacing it with new skin cells.

In the medical world Nanotech was used in various forms. The blue kind that was given to soldiers in combat was the most general form of them all. Its main purpose was for first aid and only had very basic 'fix-when-broken' subroutines. There were all kinds of horror stories of Nanotech growing extra bones or organs and even starting to build whole new limbs. It was also notoriously bad for shrapnel wounds since it couldn't remove debris, but still healed the wound, leaving metal deep within their body. It was always better to get a medical technician with the proper equipment to heal something if it was possible.

After the gel had mostly been absorbed into his skin, the nurse then rubbed an orange cream over the same spot and covered the whole thing with a large bandage. She sealed its edges with a time-dissolving adhesive and stood up.

"All done." she declared happily. "The skin should be healed in a day or so and then it'll be another day for your fur to grow back. The bandage will fall off when it's done, but don't go picking at it." Kaden gave his word that he wouldn't and thanked the nurse for her work.

Gigi gave Kaden one last smile and left him to redress himself. She walked out the door, down the hall, and back to her office to sit down at her desk. She'd begun uploading Kaden's medical data onto to the medical server when a tan furred, female, Lombax peeked her head around the door.

"Um, doctor?" she began hesitantly. "Can I please have my uniform back now?" the doctor, formerly known as nurse, looked up from her holo-monitor with a hint of a scowl as she studied the woman,

"I'm sorry Gigi, but this uniform appears to have some sort of graffiti all over it. Now we both know that I hate filthy looking uniforms in my clinic. I can't have anyone waltzing around with such a undignified piece of clothing on, so I guess I'll just have to burn it. You understand."

Gigi's ears drooped sadly and she nodded her acceptance. She carefully turned back down the hallway while trying to keep the medical gown she was wearing from exposing too much of her body. As she had been dreading the whole time she'd been hiding in the nearby bathroom, she would now have to make a run for the locker rooms on the other side of the clinic. Her only hope was that she could sneak through the area without being seen. As she turned the corner down the next hall, she almost ran straight into Alister Azimuth.

Recognizing the son of her boss immediately, Gigi made a small squeak of despair before bolting down another hallway. Alister watched her leave and shook his head, _the mad doctor strikes again_, he thought. He then walked over to the doctor's office and stood in the doorway.

"What's with scrubs?" he asked informally. The doctor gave him a sideways glance and finished entering in a few thing on her computer interface before finally turning to face him.

"Sometimes nurses get the more fun jobs." she answered obscurely. "So, how have you been?"

"How's Kaden?" Alister asked, ignoring the doctor's question. The doctor simply raised an eyebrow at him before resting her chin in her hand and her elbow on the desk,

"Hmmm, he's very sweet." she began thoughtfully. "Completely innocent at heart really, which is part of his charm, but that makes him inexperienced, which isn't ideal. Though, that part's easily fixed." she added with mischievous grin.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Alister replied in disgust as he pulled up his hands as if not wanting to touch something gross. "I meant, how is he physically?"

"Oh… physically." the doctor purred. "Well, he's much more handsome than you always describe him. Strong body, clean and even coat, the part that's not burnt at least. If he looks like this now, Mmmmm, I can't wait to see what he looks like after he's fully grown." Alister's expression had the mixed look of someone both very annoyed and about be vomit.

"What are you, like a hundred now?" Alister said irritatedly. "Just tell me if he's fine or not." The doctor's expression changed to match Alister's and she narrowed her eyes,

"He's completely fine." she answered. "And if you need that knot taken out of your tail then I can prescribe a good smacking. What is it with the Azimuth bloodline? You and your father, always so serious." The doctor stopped to think about her words and the past hour or so she'd been examining and fixing Kaden. "Actually, have I ever told you how your father and I met?"

"No thanks mom." Alister said with a shake of the head. "I think I've had enough childhood trauma for one day." He turned to leave and started walking down the hall.

"And it'd be nice to see my son when it didn't involve medical treatment!" his mother called after him.

Her son merely raised his arm in acknowledgment. Mrs. Azimuth shook her head, _Just like his father, _she thought as she turned back to her holo-monitor. A moment later she smiled to herself.

* * *

Kaden and Alister were gearing up for their first asteroid patrol. A few kilometers from the outpost they were about to teleport to, was an abandoned mining pit. The usual protocol for abandoning a mining site was to blow the tunnels to prevent anyone from entering them and either getting hurt or lost. The site they were going to hadn't been officially abandoned yet because it still had plenty of Trillium in it. The drilling and harvesting equipment had all been reassigned to a newly discovered vein of trillium that was several times richer. Now Kaden and Alister had to sweep the extensive tunnels in order to verify that no Agorian forces had taken up residence.

They were both suiting up in the preparation room next to the teleporter. Alister was wearing his usual armor, but Kaden couldn't to use his due to the damage it had sustained and the lack of time he had for repairs. The suit itself was only minorly damaged and would have been fine for protection with a simply patch job, but he knew that he'd wired at least one thing wrong and he wouldn't be satisfied until he was sure there were no other flaws. Besides being minorly obsessive with perfection, Kaden also had several systems on his suit that would kill him and anyone nearby if they malfuntioned and he couldn't risk it.

He was given permission to use a suit from the company armory and, in true Kaden style, he'd definitely found and interesting one. With no NID uplink and an after-design Nanotech attachment, Kaden stood up in a green painted suit of G-83 medium combat armor. While he'd been searching through the armory's auxiliary storage facility, he had stumbled upon the hauntingly familar artefact. Dust covered and shoved in the back of the room, and knew he had to try it.

Alister suited up next to Kaden and found himself once again astonished by his friend's behavior. Kaden had likely pulled the relic suit of armor from a trash bin someone had forgotten to empty. After finding it he had to do a full pressure test just to make sure the seals hadn't rotted away with age and despite Alister's attempts to change his mind, he refused to simply use a newer one. He probably could have fixed his own suit in the time it took him to prepar this one. He had replaced its gauntlets with his own though.

Kaden had decided to wear the G-83 suit of armor with the hope that he'd find a weakness or strategic understanding that could give him the advantage in his next battle with Kor. He'd already found that careful consideration had been put into the tail compartment. Extra space had been allotted around the armor's waist and Kaden was able to wrap his tail around his waist like a belt. The suit's manual even suggested to begin wrapping his tail from the opposite side of his dominant hand. He had tried both ways and found that it was more comfortable the way the manual had suggested, which was interesting since they should have felt the same logically. He was even beginning to like the suit, that was at least until he put the helmet on.

An identical helmet to Kor's, aside from the green color, had been with the suit, but no matter how much ingenuity the Lombax engineers had when they made it, it was clear that they couldn't figure out a comfortable way to protect the wearer's ears. They were squeezed flat against his skull and that meant the majority of the helmet's weight was mostly on his ears.

The helmet also came with two long pads that Kaden was supposed to wear between his ears and his skull. The pads were attached to microphones on the outside of the helmet and vibrated to help Kaden hear both outside noises and his radio. He had found that without them it was impossible to hear anything. Luckily he had been able to jury-rig a connection to his NID, so Kaden could hear everything directly without the extremely uncomfortable speaker-pads.

"How do I look?" Kaden asked as his voice was filtered through the helmet. Alister winced at his words.

"The green makes you look different, but your voice sounds just like Kor's. It's actually disconcerting." Alister answered "Anyway, this is your last chance to change your mind." he continued as he stood in the doorway to the teleporter room

"Not a chance." replied Kaden defiantly. He was looking forward to getting a feel of Kor's armor. Like the old saying goes: 'If you want to get to know someone, hoverboot a Kilometer in their combat armor'.

They both walked onto the teleporter pad in the next room. Bob's voice came over their communicators and told them to prepare for tele-transit. The room filled with blue light and was replaced by another room that led to an airlock.

The two Lombaxes walked forward until they reached the door. Alister hit the airlock control and the hiss of gas escaping filled the room as it depressurized. The doors slid open and they both stepped out into the comet's icy atmosphere. Kaden walked out with caution as he tested his armor and made sure that all the systems in it were working properly.

"How's it holding up?" asked Alister as he watched Kaden move around in the snow.

Kaden walked forward and spun around a few times. He then turned back to Alister and gave him a thumbs up, before activating his hoverboots in a roar of jets. A second later Kaden landed flat on his back and blasted off into the distance, leaving a wake of flying snow.

Alister ignited his hoverboots and sped after him on his own twin jets of fire. Kaden was doing something weird again, but Alister had long since given up trying to understand his friend's actions or thoughts. He just had to make sure he didn't do anything too permanently damaging, or Sorana would have both their tails.

The winds were fairly strong and the flurries were making it harder to see. Alister followed Kaden's ice trail down a steep crater and stopped at a pair of wriggling, green armored legs jutting from a snowdrift.

"You alive in there?" Alister asked through the helmet comm. system.

He then checked his helmet chronometer. He'd gotten Bob to add about an hour to their expected return time. Some of it was in case they decided to have a race and took a detour, but most of it was in expectation of Kaden's shenanigans.

"Yeah, but I could use a little help if you don't mind." was Kaden's reply through the comm. Alister headed down and grabbed hold of both of Kaden's ankles and pulled him out with one strong heave. He then helped his friend to his feet and brush the snow off his armor.

"Now come on." Alister said. "Waste time after we've finished the mission and have some to spare." Kaden brushed the last of the ice off his armor and faced Alister.

He held his arms out, offering him to go first and Alister accepted by igniting his boots again before scaling the crater wall. Kaden activated his boots as well and followed.

"And it wasn't wasted time." Kaden said through the comm. after they'd gotten into a cruising speed.

"Oh?" replied Alister. "Did you discover a new vein of trillium under the snow? Or perhaps you made friends with that pile of ice since you two seemed to be so close."

"No, I couldn't find any trillium and I found the snow's company to be rather unpleasant, its personality was a bit too cold. I did learn that this armor is pretty top-heavy though. I didn't fall in the snow on purpose you know. I also learned that the vision through this helmet from above is pretty limited. I didn't even see that crater until I was too close to stop."

Alister looked over at kaden who was hoverbooting next to him at the same speed. He had to admit that it was an interesting piece of information and he was sure that Kaden would put it to use somehow. He smiled to himself, this was the reason he never tried to understand Kaden's actions, he simply trusted in them.

* * *

Kaden and Alister reached the mining site ahead of schedule. The main reason being that Kaden had decided to heed Alister's request and not perform anymore 'tests' on his new armor until after the mine was officially cleared.

They stood at the edge of a gigantic crater that sloped down steeply to a leveled floor where standby equipment was usually stationed. Artificial ledges were scatter around its walls, marked with metallic structures that stabilized the entrances to large mining caverns made by trillium harvesters.

The harvesters were hulking pieces of machinery that could dig through anything. After a geo-scan detects and pinpoints a vein of trillium ore, the trillium harvesters would map a path from the crater and just start digging towards it. It would simultaneously dig and sift through the dirt for ore while hundreds of mining drones followed behind in order to carry out the waste material. When the harvesters had a full storage bay of ore they would come back out and carry it to the nearest drop off point.

The original plan was for Kaden and Alister to set up relays and use survey drones to scan the inside of the crater and the immediate area. If there was no sign of activity then they could be sure that nothing was in the tunnels themselves. After that they would go to two other, smaller craters marked in the area and repeat the process. However, they both knew that the plan had changed as they looked down at the Agorian ship sitting on the crater floor.


	18. I know Where this is Going

The ship lying idle on the floor of the mining site was called a Talon. It was a type of fighter ship used by the Agorians. Simple in design and easily mass produced, it represented the vast majority of the Agorian's space power. Their race lacked the knowledge and desire to produce powerful capital ships or armadas, since they preferred to fight on the ground anyway.

Alister reported in the sighting to the Security Division HQ and Kaden could hear the transmission through his own comm. link,

"Defense Command, this is surface patrol Alpha Kilo, emergency code one-one-eight."

"Emergency code acknowledged Alpha Kilo," Bob's robotic voice answered through the comm., "state your situation."

"Location: Mining site four-eight-Zulu. One enemy vessel on site, fighter class, Agorian design."

"Do you have confirmation on enemy personnel?"

"Negative on confirmed personnel, zero movement and no signs of perimeter defenses."

"Support team is en route. Be advised that recently salvaged Agorian fighters contained three Agorian combatants on average."

"Received command, proceeding with protocol." Alister finished his transmission and turned to Kaden, "Guess the extra security over the Agorians was justified."

"Seems like it." Kaden replied. It was now looking like he would get his chance to field test one of his new weapons. He flexed the fingers of his gauntlets in anticipation. He then turned back to Alister who was also looking excited. "Now be honest, how badly were you hoping that Agorians were here?"

"Are you kidding?" Alister began with a smile as he readied his Combuster. "I've been wishing for the opportunity to use an emergency code since my first patrol on Kreeli. I almost got to once, when I picked up an unidentified heat signature that matched a pair of hoverboots, but it ended up just being some kid who'd gone exploring without his daddy's permission." There was a pause while Kaden made a connection in his head and was about to say something when Alister continued and cut him off. "Ok, you take the right side and I'll take the left. We'll sweep down and start sending survey drones into the mine shafts, but I'm going to focus on scouting out the ship."

Kaden nodded as he and Alister pushed away all thoughts that didn't pertain to their mission and focused. The security force protocols on Kreeli for this kind of situation was to have the scout team (Kaden and Alister) gather as much intelligence as possible before the assault team arrived. Since they hadn't spotted any enemy units yet, it was their job to find them.

Kaden walked along the right side of the crater, to a point where the descent was less steep before sliding down the slope. Neither he nor Alister used their hoverboots out of concern that it would alert any Agorians.

Kaden made it about halfway down the wall to a mining tunnel entrance. The hole in the crater wall was easily five meters high and almost twice that in width. It was the same size as a trillium harvester with all its harvesting drills spread open. There were intricate ice crystals that had formed all around it. They made it obvious that no one had disturbed them in a long time.

Still Kaden activated a survey drone anyway. Pulling a small orb from his armor, he tossed it into the cave. It stopped in mid-air as its anti-grav motor activated and then zipped off down the tunnel until it disappeared. A moment later Kaden received its scan data. No life signs were detected yet, so he placed it on autopilot and set it to search the tunnel on its own and alert him if it discovered anything.

He continued to next tunnel with similar results. It wasn't until the eighth tunnel that he found his first evidence of trespass. The tunnel mouth was covered in footprints and the ice crystals were shattered. Kaden repeated the process, but used one of his own special surveyor drones for this tunnel.

"Kaden, how's it looking on your end so far?" Alister asked over the comm. link.

"I've been to most of the tunnels, but I only found one that I'm sure they've been to." Kaden replied "How about you?"

"No signs of entry to any of my tunnels." Alister answered. "I'm at the ship now. There's nobody aboard and it's completely iced over. I'd say ith's been idle for at least a day. There are footprints all around, but the only trail leading off is towards you. I'd say at least four Agorians and no signs of Thrashers."

Thrashers were an extremely cheap attack robot. They were made from bits of scrap metal and liked to use that fact as camouflage. They'd simply lie on the ground looking like trash until an unsuspecting enemy showed up. They're manufactured by a junk obsessed race called the Vulards and were usually given to the Agorians as peace offerings.

"I'm scanning the tunnel now." said Kaden. "Let's check the others and by then my drone should have found them if they're in there." There was a pause before Alister responded,

"Forget it. These tracks obviously only lead to the tunnel you're at. Let's just go take them down before the assault team gets here." he said. It was clear that he wanted a crack at the Agorians before the Assault team came and sidelined the two of them.

"Isn't that against protocol?" Kaden asked in mock concern.

"Ha, they day I need you to tell me to follow rules is the day a few dimwitted Agorians beats two Nova Academy warriors. Besides, we still haven't found the enemy yet. We're just following protocol by 'looking for them'. If they happen to spot us in the narrow, stretching tunnel then we'll just have to follow protocol and defend ourselves."

"Well I'm not going to argue with that logic. Kaden conceded without resistance. It wasn't like he wasn't thinking the same thing anyway. "Let's go."

When Alister arrived at the tunnel entrance the two Lombaxes activated the illuminators on their suits and headed in. Alister was cautious and held his Combuster at the ready. Kaden on the other hand was the opposite. He trusted his surveyor to alert him of any unseen danger and walked with his eyes mostly on his gauntlet's holo-screen, checking the readings from his drone.

"That's weird." Kaden said in surprise after a few minutes of walking.

"What is?" asked Alister. Kaden fiddled with his gauntlet controls a moment,

"The drone's image recognition software detected an enemy presence, but it didn't alert me. If I hadn't been watching the data transmission, I'd never have known." he explained.

"So what does that mean? Software glitch?" wondered Alister.

Kaden hoped not. He wrote the program the drone was using. If there was a glitch, it was his fault. Before getting angry with himself, he double checked the readings and soon found the source of the problem.

"It didn't detect any heat signatures or life signs." Kaden said with mild surprise.

"Does that mean they're dead?" Alister asked with a hint of disappointment.

"We're going to have to find out to be sure. Let's go." Kaden hurried off down the tunnel and Alister followed behind.

* * *

It only took the duo a few minutes to arrive at the spot the drone had discovered something and it took only a few seconds for them to take it in. Five Agorians, hulking creatures three times as tall as a fully grown Lombax, with large arms and torsos, but unusually scrawny legs, lay about the tunnel, covered in a layer of ice.

Kaden began inspecting the first one. Each of its oversized arms ended in a long metal blade clearly designed for combat. Two more of the five carried similar armaments while the last two seemed to have some kind of cannon fixed to the end of their arms.

"Look at this." Alister said while inspecting the farthest Agoriansicle. Kaden looked up and went to see what Alister was talking about.

Alister was examining a simple wooden crate like the one Mercatus had stored Bolts in. This particular crate however, was full of unrefined trillium ore. Kaden turned to Alister who turned his illuminator towards the wall. They both recognized the evidence of hand prospecting on the tunnel wall and could also see the silver reflection of an ore vein in it.

"Well, it looks like they came for the trillium after all." said Alister.

"I guess," Kaden replied somewhat unconvinced, "but if they wanted trillium they should have attacked an outgoing cargo vessel with tons of refined stock. What possible reason could they have to sneak onto Kreeli and scrape out a single crate load of ore?"

"Do Agorians need a reason?" Alister asked. "All they do is attack stuff and take stuff. I doubt there is much more to their thought process than that."

Kaden still wasn't convinced that there was nothing else to it, but was more concerned about why the Agorians were all lying here dead at the moment. He turned his light to the floor and noticed scorch marks across it. He followed the marks to one of the Agorians' arm mounted weapons. It was then that he noticed the other Agorians were all sitting around the scorch marks like a campfire. Kaden almost laughed as he realized what had occurred.

"Get this!" he exclaimed to Alister. His friend turned to see what he was talking about. "They must have come in here, scraped out some trillium, and got cold. They all huddle around this guy," Kaden pointed to Agorian the scorch marks led to, "and he turned on his flamethrower to warm everyone up."

"Ok," Alister said in confusion, "but why is that relevant?"

"None of them are wearing masks. Even if they don't use their brains, they still need to breathe and the atmosphere on Kreeli is thin enough as it is. Add that to being deep underground plus someone starting a fire and you've got yourself some asphyxiated Agorians."

"How 'bout that." Alister said as he leaned down to look closer at one of the Agorians again. He noticed that the brute looked almost peaceful. "Guess they really are as dumb as everyone says." He held up his wrench and tapped it a few times on the Agorian's frozen head for emphasis.

Cracks ran down the ice covering the Agorian's head from where Alister had tapped it. They then continued to snake down its neck and torso and even over its arms. Alister stood back as he started to get a bad feeling.

With the sound of shattering ice, the frozen Agorian burst out of his crystal shell, roaring loudly, and took a swing at Alister with its long arm-mounted blade. Alister dodge with a roll and Kaden quickly moved out of the way of a second attack. He parried another with his wrench and dove towards Alister who had pulled his Combuster back out.

"I thought you said they were dead?!" he yelled as he drew a bead on the Agorian.

"No, I just said they were asphyxiated and had no heat signatures." Kaden retaliated.

The tunnel was decently sized, but Kaden wasn't sure if it was safe to use his new weapon. Alister blasted away at the angry behemoth with his. A dozen Combuster rounds left holes and streaks of melted flesh, but the creature seemed to be unaware of the damage. It turned away and hit its nearby frozen comrade with the back of its blade.

The second Agorian burst out of the ice just like the first one and immediately turned it arm cannon towards the two Lombaxes. For a species that didn't have a lot of brain power, Kaden had to give them credit for how quickly they could react after waking up from a frozen state. A bang echoed around the tunnel and a large metal orb shot out of the Agorian's arm cannon and landed with thud next to them.

It began to beep ominously and Kaden immediately reached for it with his wrench. With a squeeze on the handle, the two fingers tightened on the bomb and he threw it back from where it came. It hit its owner and exploded in a flash of light that shook tunnel, causing bits of rock and dirt to fall. Kaden and Alister ducked further back into the cave to avoid the blast.

When the dust settled they could clearly see four Agorians now arisen from their icy slumber. The one that had taken the explosion to the face was lying on the ground motionless.

"How are they not dead after being frozen solid?" Alister asked as he caught his breath and lined up another shot.

"They're just walking bags of muscle and bone!" Kaden answered. "Not a lot of brittle parts on them."

"Rawwrrrrr!" bellowed an Agorian before speaking in a deep guttural voice. "Take the prize back to the ship, I'll make these fur balls pay for freezing us!" The three other Agorians with blade weapons nodded reluctantly before picking up the crate and their gear.

The Agorian who had spoken stepped forward and waved its arms in a challenge to its foes. Alister fired a couple more rounds, but the Agorian raised one arm and a yellow energy shield flashed into life. The Combuster shots bounced harmlessly off of it and the Agorian laughed. It then lowered the shield and raised the cannon on its other arm before unleashing a torrent of flame that filled the gap between it and its prey. Kaden held up a fist and a white energy barrier expanded from the back of his gauntlet to cover him and Alister. The fire splashed against it and Alister could feel the heat on his fur.

There was a break in the fire's flow and Alister moved out from behind the shield to unleash another salvo of Combuster rounds, but yet again the Agorian stayed safe behind his own shield. They were at a stalemate and could still see the other three Agorians getting ready to leave. Alister tried to fire at them, but the few shots that weren't blocked by the shield wielding Agorian didn't even seem to faze the others. Another blast of flames was unleashed by the first Agorian driving the two Lombaxes behind cover again and forcing Kaden to make a decision. He held out his free arm and gave his gauntlet a mental command.

"You're going to use that in here?" Alister asked with concern when he realized what Kaden was about to do.

"Unless you have a better idea." he replied as a hum began to fill the air. He would have to make the blast as small as possible, but there was a minimum when it came to energy positive nuclear reactions. "Cover your ears." he added.

Ionized air sparked around his arm as the magnetic containment field in his gauntlet's fingers increased in strength. A small fusion reaction, just like the ones in his fusion cells, began at the heart of the field. The reaction soon grew self-sufficient and was approaching the critical point where his magnetic field could no longer contain it. With perfect timing, the flame torrent stopped again allowing Kaden to lower his shield and hold out his arm to line up a shot. In an instant he mentally redirected all of his gauntlet's energy to the magnets in his palm. With one vector in space suddenly free of restraint, the miniature sun erupted from his hand and was sent in stream of searing light, past the shielded Agorian and into the back of one of his fleeing companions.

A blinding flash forced Alister to look away, but Kaden's armored eyes automatically filtered out the intense rays. The heat of the blast vaporized the three fleeing Agorians and the shockwave sent the shield wielding one to the ground. A deep rumbling replaced the echoing ring of the blast.

Large chunks of rock began dislodging from the ceiling and falling to the floor. The rumbling intensified and both Lombaxes were knocked to the ground as the tunnel shook. They crawled away as fast as they could, deeper into the tunnel, to escape the cave-in.

A few seconds later the rumbling subsided and they were both able to get up. They dusted themselves off and turned back towards the tunnel exit. They're illuminators reflected off the newly formed wall of rock and the half buried Agorian body that blocked their exit.

Alister attempted to get a transmission signal through the cave while Kaden walked over to the rock wall and kneeled down to dead Agorian. A moment later he removed something from its body and held it up to examine it better. It was a PDA, an old form of data manipulation and storage that was used before digi-pad. Alister made a contact with Bob, but it was weak and choppy. He simply kept repeating the words 'cave-in' and 'trapped' unitl Bob finally acknowledged it.

"Well," began Alister, making Kaden turn back to face him, "I guess we better make ourselves comfortable."

* * *

"I spy, something that is green." Alister said again.

"Me." Kaden sighed as he looked up from his gauntlets interface again. "Please stop this. There are only four things in here: you, me, the Agorian and rocks."

Kaden had been passing the time by decrypting the PDA he'd found. It wasn't hard to hack it, but it was full of all kinds of junk. Mostly the memory was filled with selfy photos and several text-only conversations with females, and one male, all claiming that the PDA's owner was cheating on them. The time stamps of all of them overlapped each other. Alister on the other hand was going through cycles of sitting quietly, pacing around in frustration, and recounting rocks only to get frustrated and start annoying Kaden to pass the time.

"Oh, well I guess if you're bored with that game we could always just go home…but wait. No we can't, because we're trapped in cave!" Alister said angrily.

"Well if you hadn't smacked the first one in the head, they wouldn't have woken up." Kaden shot back.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the ringing in my ears from the nuke you set off and the cave-in that it caused."

"The whole reason we're even down here was because you wanted take on the big bad Agorians and get all the glory for it."

"I didn't hear much resistance out of you. You'd already agreed to it before I even made it the tunnel's entrance."

"I'm sorry. I stopped listening to do a score count of the firefight. Out of the five enemies you woke up, I believe I took down, let's see, all five, while you have a grand total of zero. Though, you did manage to scratch one of them a few times. Congratulations"

"Ouch. I'd say that was a boot to the tail, but since I've been trapped in this frozen cave my tail seems to have gone numb."

"Then there is some good news. Since my armor is fully vacuum rated, I don't feel anything of the cold. I must say I'm starting to like the G-83 series more and more."

"Then maybe I should come over there and…." Halfway through Alister's sentence a low rumble could be heard through the tunnel walls.

As they both listened it grew louder and the ground began to vibrate. They knew right away to back up and were standing a safe distance from the cave-in site when a large metal drill, wreathed in plasma, burst from the center of the rock heap blocking their path. It stopped spinning and its plasmatic skin slowly dissipated.

The drill drove forward and toward the side of the tunnel before coming to a rest beside the wall. In its wake was a smoking passage of smooth rock that had cooled after being liquefied by the drill.

A Lombax in research armor walked up to Kaden and Alister after they had deactivated the drill. Research armor was like standard Lombax armor, except that it was designed to combat harsh elements rather than enemies. It also had no standard weapon attachments. Instead it supported a wider variety of scanners, detection equipment, and power supplies. Kaden's personal suit had once been a suit of research armor, though after years of modification it was more aptly ranked among the light combat armor class.

"So…who collapsed the tunnel?" Kaden's father asked over the comm. in monotone. Kaden reluctantly raised his hand. "Excellent!" his father exclaimed with a smile. "I'm so proud of you right now."

Kaden and Alister were both very confused by the reaction. Kaden was more surprised while Alister was more irritated and it was he who responded first,

"Why would you be proud of your son for collapsing a mining tunnel and trapping two people inside?"

"Because, I bet your father a hundred bolts that it was my son that did it. Oh I'm going to enjoy collecting it too. He was so sure that it was his son that had caused it, but I knew better." Cerdas explained triumphantly. "Do everything big, even if it's screwing up, right son?"

Kaden scowled at his father, but no one could see it. Cerdas then held up his hands in a gesture to get on the operator's platform with him.

"Let's go home." he said happily.

* * *

Alister and Kaden had just finished their off-duty workout and were heading back to their rooms to get changed before chow. Alister had noticed that Kaden was a little more off than usual during their exercises. Most people wouldn't have noticed since Kaden was always zoning out and thinking as if consciously in another dimension, but Alister could tell that his friend's mind was currently stuck on something big. He had tried to ask about it, but had been brushed off several times. He was starting to get a little irritated about it. Finally he'd had enough as he watched Kaden absentmindedly cut-up a napkin on his tray and eat it.

"That's it." Alister said demandingly, once he and Kaden had re-entered their room. "Either you tell me what you're planning or I'll tell your dad what you're up to." Kaden turned to give Alister a curious look,

"I told you, I'm not up to anything and even if I was, how are you going to tell on me if I don't explain the plan to you?"

"It doesn't matter." Alister said with a shrug. "I'll just tell him you're up to something. It's true most of the time and he'll be on alert. If you're planning anything big then it'll at least get in your way."

Kaden had to admit that Alister's logic was sound and he nodded in acknowledgment. After a quick check to make sure that the door was shut, Kaden produced the PDA he'd pulled from the dead Agorian in the caves.

"Listen to this." he said excitedly before typing in a command.

An audio-only message began to play from the device and it seemed to be a commercial with epic music in background, a sports announcer yelling excitedly, and an Agorian's voice doing a background chant in between:

_"It's time for carnage! It's time for mayhem! It's time for..."_

_"Battleplex, Battleplex, Battleplex..."_

_"Witness the ultimate Galactic Arena. No rules. No helmets. No surrender. Just the galaxy's greatest competitors, battling to the death!"_

_"Battleplex, Battleplex, Battleplex..."_

_"A place where honor is bountiful, glory is coveted, and testosterone is pumped through the vents like it's going out of style!"_

_"Battleplex, Battleplex, Battleplex..."_

_"New gladiators welcome! We'll see you there, at the..."_

_"Battleplex, Battleplex, Battleplex..."_

The recording stopped and Alister looked up from the device to the grinning expression on Kaden's face. Everything was now clear to him.

"Ohhhh no. I know where this is going." Alister said knowingly in concern. "There is no way we're doing that." Kaden simply stared at his friend without a word for a moment. "How are you even going to get there? It's not like we can hoverboot over."

"We take a transport." Kaden answered simply. "I've done it before."

Alister rolled his eyes as he remembered. Kaden had been to Kreeli several times before with his father and one of those times he'd managed to steal a fighter from the hanger bays, fly it around Kreeli star space, and return it undetected. He had managed to hack everything necessary to get away with it. However, he had also missed the internal flight log computer and after an annual compiling of its data, an inconsistency was found. Alister remembered that his father had been very displeased.

"Since your little joyride last year, all the ships in the hangar have a ton of new security features. Even you couldn't get through them all without getting caught." Kaden nodded his agreement, but his expression didn't falter,

"We take a harvester." he said confidently. "They're classified as mining equipment so they're not stored in the hangars. They're just barely capable of intergalactic travel, but still capable." Alister just continued to shake his head.

"How are you going to enter?" He demanded as he held up the PDA. "This says all non-Agorians require valid intergalactic identification." Again Kaden's expression remained unwavering,

"I'll use my dad's I.D. We look exactly alike. I doubt some brain-dead Agorian could tell the difference. I doubt any species besides the Markazians even know enough about Lombaxes to spot the difference."

"How are you going to get the I.D. without your father finding out? He needs that card to access the facilities in the R&D Division." This time Kaden's smile grew even wider,

"This Wednesday the mess hall is serving Suavis fruit pie for desert. I remember how my mom always has to lecture my dad over the holo-net for overeating them and calling out sick due to stomach pains and nausea whenever they're served. If we steal the I.D. during dinner that night, he'll be taken to med-bay and won't be able to use it until Friday morning. We can be back by then." Alister kept shaking his head and re-reading the PDA as he got the familiar feeling of Kaden's ridiculous plan starting to sound plausible.

"Why do you even want to go?" Alister asked in a last ditch effort to dissuade him. "I mean, besides your usual death wish, what would be the point of entering a gladiator battle? It's not like you desperately need the bolts." Kaden turned around and went to his closet space to retrieve a large, metallic cylinder with a small amount of bluish gas visible through a window.

"This is a universal nanite collector. All nano-weapons come with preloaded schematics so all the nanites collected from enemies can only go to one upgrade, but I built this unit to simply collect and store. If I go to the Battleplex and defeat a bunch of strong opponents, I can use those nanites to upgrade my gear and be unstoppable. The bolts wouldn't hurt either though."

Alister took a moment to stare at the device in Kaden's hands. Nano-weapons were a relatively new thing in intergalactic warfare. He had heard he could get his Combuster upgraded to use the system and had been intrigued by the concept, but had yet to see anything like it in real life. He then took some time to consider Kaden's words.

"Is this still about your grudge against Kor?" Alister said seriously while looking straight into Kaden's eyes.

Kaden returned the gaze with an equally serious look,

"Yes."


	19. The Battleplex

The Lombax built trillium harvester moved slowly through space while following the coordinates Kaden had programmed into its nav-system. Kaden himself sat in the passenger seat of the operator's cab. Sparks flashed as he made last minute alterations to a few of his G-83 armor's components. He had decided to keep using it rather than rewire his old one for the time being.

Alister watched him work from the operator's seat, still trying to shake the horrible feeling of guilt and remorse at having given in to Kaden's plans and stealing one of his father's ships. When Kaden had detailed all of his plan to level up his gear at the Battleplex, Alister's conscience was drowned out in the wave of enthusiasm and seemingly logical persuasions that Kaden had steadily poured over it. Now that they'd been traveling for over an hour however, he finally had time to think about the consequences of his actions and how angry and disappointed his father would be if he found out.

"I think that went pretty well." said Kaden as he worked, trying to break the silence.

"I don't want to talk about it." Alister replied hotly. Ever since they'd left Kreeli star space he had refused to talk as he brooded over the situation. Kaden was getting tired of his grumpy attitude though,

"It wasn't that bad. It was only a hologuise after all." he continued. Alister turned to glare at Kaden for a moment before returning to the nav-screen.

"I said I don't want to talk about it. Ever again." he repeated. Kaden sighed and looked up from his work,

"You know, I don't think you looked half bad in that dress either."

Alister growled angrily and turned back to Kaden with a finger pointing angrily at him,

"I swear I will turn this ship around if you mention what happened ever again, to anyone." he declared threateningly. "The sooner we end this little trip the better I'll feel, that's for sure." Kaden rolled his eyes and returned to his work, allowing the silence to return.

A few minutes later…

"I'm sure that mechanic will probably tell a few people." Kaden said under his breath.

"That's it!" yelled Alister before reaching a hand toward the navigation controls. Kaden leapt from his seat, grabbing Alister by the wrist and wrestling him away from the console,

"Come one, learn to take a joke." Kaden said as he tried to hold his friend back from the ships flight computer. It wasn't too hard to stop Alister from completing the intricate key commands required to readjust the navigation. However, Alister was stronger than Kaden was physically. It was only a matter of time before Alister realized that changing the ship's course outright was futile and turned his full attention to his opponent. He wrapped his free arm around Kaden's head, putting the tan furred Lombax in a headlock. Kaden struggled against the hold as Alister squeezed tighter. Somehow Kaden managed to slip out and make it back to the passenger's seat as Alister came after him. There wasn't much room in the cab for a fight, but the two Lombaxes tried their best.

* * *

The Battleplex loomed large in the trillium harvester's viewport. It was a spaceship itself, but it was a city class star cruiser. Massive thrusters protruded from its tail end, each one over a hundred times the size of the harvester itself. Powerful spotlights waved their photonic beams through the immediate space around it, where hundreds of ships orbited the gargantuan ship.

"Check this out." said Alister as he saw the clear shielded roof of the main arena. It had been placed where a ship's command bridge would normally have been. Alister was in a much better mood than he had been earlier, but Kaden simply continued making adjustments to his armor. Alister looked over at him from the window. "Oh now look who's being grumpy." he prodded. Kaden didn't look up from his work as he replied,

"I'm about to enter a gladiator tournament to the death and you think now would be a good time to pop my arm out of its socket?" he said angrily. Alister shook his head,

"I did no such thing. Sure it's impressive that your arm bent that far without popping, but it wouldn't have had to happen if you'd just cried uncle sooner."

"Just take us in please." grumbled Kaden without stopping his work. "I need to finish these connections or I'll be toast in the tournament."

Alister shrugged and took the harvester in for a landing. He made a request to land with the star flight controller aboard the Battleplex and they gave him the docking coordinates, but to Alister's surprise the voice that answered him wasn't Agorian. In fact it sounded small and weak.

Ignoring the thought, he focused on the task at hand and guided the large piece of mining equipment into one of open shuttle bays. He set the ship to hover as he had been instructed to and opened the operator cab doors. Kaden grabbed his gear and they both hopped out of the ship before a giant metal claw came down from the ceiling to close around it. It lifted the harvester up and pulled it sideways into an opening in the wall.

"Alright, now what?" asked Alister as they both moved towards the nearby grav-lift.

"We go here." Kaden answered as he spotted and pointed out the lift floor labled 'Tournament Registration' on the lift's directory. "This must be where we sign up. Just be careful, these are Agorians after all." Alister nodded and they rode the grav-lift up to the registration floor.

As the lift gates opened they found a room that looked like a casino and was filled with Agorians. The large creatures laughed or chatted jovially while operating the large console devices. There were also a large number of pink skinned creatures with oversized heads and four spider-like legs protruding from their abdomen.

These were Terachnoids, a super-intelligent race that was known for being the Polaris Galaxy's nerd race. Very weak physically, the Terachnoids were born with several separate brains in their oversized craniums and were fond of pointing out how much smarter they were than every other race in the galaxy. Though, any true genius requires both intellect and imagination. It is for this reason that Lombaxes remain the most technologically advanced race in Polaris.

It was very strange to see Terachnoids and Agorians in the same room without a toilet or gunfire involved. The two races seemed completely tolerant of each other as they moved about the room. Kaden assumed that they probably had some kind of symbiotic relationship. The extremely weak and intelligent Terachnoids complimented the extremely strong and dumb Agorians rather nicely once Kaden thought about it for a moment.

Kaden and Alister headed into the room cautiously as they looked for anything that might be the sign up location for the tournament. Alister noticed several large alcoves in the far walls. One of them had a statue of an Agorian whose expression emanated arrogance even for an Agorian, one had a bunch of un assembled pieces of another Agorian statue in it, and the other two were currently empty. Kaden spotted something to the side of the room and told Alister keep searching while he took a closer look before heading off towards a large group of Agorians and Terachnoids. Alister kept walking and soon found a large concierge desk with a Terachnoid standing behind it.

"Welcome, welcome to the Battleplex!" shouted the Terachnoid in greeting as Alister approached him. "We don't get many Lombaxes around here. Looking to sign up for the tournament? I bet the crowds would go crazy to see something like that."

"Not me, but a friend of mine is." answered Alister.

"Well if he's looking for a fight then this is definitely the right place." continued the Terachnoid. "The name's Mick, Mick Mackeroy. I run the registration for all new gladiators to the Battleplex. If your friend want's to enter just have him see me." Alister nodded his acknowledgement and headed off back down the way he'd come.

He managed to find Kaden again, but at the center of the large group now, tapping furiously on the controls of one of the consoles. The group cheered and gasped as Kaden maneuvered a small ghost shaped avatar around a maze as it collected little square shaped objects and avoided a circular monster that opened and closed its two-dimensional mouth repetitively.

Alister sighed to himself as he wondered why he was surprised before pushing his way to the center as well. He watched as Kaden was only a few squares away from completely clearing the large maze. The enemy circle monster was hot on his ghost's trail and there was a collective drawing of breath from the group as they prepared to see Kaden's avatar get eaten.

Just before the biting circle made contact with it however, Kaden's ghost avatar collected a square that was much bigger than the rest. Suddenly the circle creature turned neon red and Kaden reversed the direction of his ghost around. Now it chased the circle creature, which had also changed direction and was now running away instead. The group let out a cheer and began chanting Kaden's name as he chased the down the circle monster.

It turned left and right and all around in the maze as it desperately tried to escape from Kaden's ghost. Despite a valiant effort however, Kaden finally caught it. The ghost avatar turned to its side and its bottom opened up into a massive mouth full of fanged teeth. It chomped down on the circle creature and red color sprayed around the section of the maze that it was in, staining the virtual walls.

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Kaden's ghost continued to chomp away until finally it spat out a pair of eyeballs that rolled to a stop in the maze. The game console emitted a loud belching noise as it did so. Congratulations were offered from all around. One Agorian slapped Kaden on the back and nearly sent him flying face-first into the console screen.

A loud roar of anger burst from somewhere further down the line of consoles and towards the grav-lifts. The crowed went silent and those closest to the noise moved away to allow Kaden to get a view the angry Agorian with its hand buried inside a smoking console screen.

"You may have gotten lucky so far Lombax, but don't celebrate just yet!" It bellowed angrily. "Agorian tradition states that you must defeat your opponent four times in Manpacker to declare absolute superiority. You still have one more round to go."

Alister noticed two other broken game consoles next to the one that the angry Agorian had just punched, as well as the two other sets of eyeballs in the game's maze surrounded by red color. Kaden stepped forward,

"I just beat you three times in a row. This last match is just a formality." he taunted.

"Arggghhh, no one beats Athlima the Gamer. I will have your virtual hide for my digital trophy case!" the Agorian yelled back before moving to another game console and logging in. Kaden was about to return to his controls when Alister stopped him.

"Kaden," he said as he grabbed his friend's arm, "we don't have time to play around, we have to get back before anyone misses your dad's I.D. or the harvester. I found the registration desk, so let's go."

Alister began to pull Kaden away, but the crowd around them booed and hissed and a few of them even blocked their path.

"The challenge must be completed." growled a random Agorian from the group. Several others nodded and grumbled in agreement.

"You can't leave now." squeaked a Terachnoid desperately. "Athlima's reign of terror over the Manpacker games has gone unopposed for nearly a month. If you don't defeat her now it may be weeks before they finally swap out the games for a new one." Kaden nodded solemnly as he considered the seriousness of the situation.

"That's a girl?" asked Alister awestruck as he stared wide-eyed at Athlima, waiting impatiently for Kaden to return to the game. Alister couldn't see a single difference between her and any of the other Agorians around. Even their voices were the turned to the Terachnoid that had spoken,

"You will have to hold my place while I register for the tournament." Kaden declared , completely ignoring Alister's question.

"Me?!" the Terachnoid said in a cracked and surprised voice. "I can't defeat Athlima the Gamer, no one can!" Kaden shook his head and put his hand on the frightened Terachnoid's shoulders,

"All you have to do is stay alive until I can complete my registration and return." Kaden looked up at Athlima, "That's ok with you right?" he shouted over to the irritated Agorian.

"Whatever, just get a move on." she yelled back. Kaden returned his attention to the Terachnoid,

"You can do this. I know you have trained hard to sharpen your Manpacker skills. All that time, all that effort, it was all leading up to this very moment. Fight for your game room, fight for your freedom!" Inspired, the Terachnoid looked up at Kaden with eyes full of determination and nodded,

"I won't fail you master." he said. The Terachnoid then turned to Athlima, pointed at her, and drew a line across his hand (Terachnoids don't have thumbs). The crowd cheered as he took up the controls on the console. Kaden and Alister then slipped out of the crowd and headed for Mick's desk.

"Who was that?" asked Alister as they walked. Kaden shrugged,

"I don't know."

They arrived at the registration desk and Alister introduced Kaden to Mick. Mick then handed Kaden an application form on a holo-reader and asked to see his intergalactic I.D. Kaden gave him his father's I.D. card and began filling out the registration form. It had the basics: designate his name and Agorian title of honor, waiver the right to sue over disembowelment, a place to declare himself an organ donor after he was likely killed. Mick inspected the I.D. carefully while Kaden filled out the form, looking back and forth from the image on it and Kaden's face. He couldn't spot anything wrong with it, but noticed something that made him pause.

"You on the Galactic Panel of Interstellar Know-it-alls?" he asked in surprise. Kaden blinked a few times and stared blankly as he thought about his response,

"Yes, yes I am." he answered finally as he returned the holo-reader.

Mick then began to go on about his attempts to join the panel, but cited being unable to keep up with the demands of the position due to his illustrious interpretive dance career as the reason he wasn't one now. The whole time Kaden kept glancing back at the rows of game stations.

"Mick," Alister said, as much to interrupt the stories as to ask a question, "Do you need Kaden to do anything else?" Mick paused as he changed his focus from the rant he was about to go on.

"Nope." answered Mick finally. "You're all set, just go on over to the teleporter pad through those doors at the top of the stairs and select the tournament you want to enter."

Kaden thanked Mick before quickly turning and running back towards the game station that he'd left earlier while desperately hoping that the random Terachnoid he'd gotten to sit in for him hadn't gotten killed yet. Alister watched him go before turning back to Mick.

"How does the tournament work?" he asked. Mick brought up a holo-screen that listed several names, each under a tournament cup title.

"There are three tournaments that can be entered." Mick explained. "Each tournament has several different challenges set-up to be held in the Battleplex arena. If you can complete each challenge in a tournament's list, you'll be awarded the corresponding trophy as proof of your greatness."

Alister studied each of the three trophies shown on the holo-screen. They were Bronze, Silver, and Gold, which was a pretty standard set of reward titles.

"Those trophies would probably make a good souvenir." said Alister somewhat greedily. Mick laughed at his statement.

"They sure do. As an added bonus, each trophy is made out of metal stolen from other races, which makes them all the more valuable in the eyes of Agorians, hehe." Mick looked left and right cautiously before leaning over the desk to whisper something to Alister. "Rumor has it that the big wigs in charge of the Battleplex want to make a trillium cup and steal the material from the most powerful and feared race in the galaxy." Mick gave Alister a wink, "The Lombaxes." Alister smiled as something finally made sense to him.

"My advice Mick,"Alister replied with a cool tone, "make it out of something a little easier to get, like a raritanium. You could steal that from the Vulards and you wouldn't have to lose a legion of fighters and warriors for nothing." Mick didn't understand what Alister meant by that, but assumed that the white furred Lombax was simply joking.

"Anyway," Mick continued as he returned the subject of the tournament, "Kaden will have to start on the first challenge of the bronze cup. Each time he wins a challenge, he'll unlock another one and the challenges get progressively harder as they go up."

Alister's face scowled as Mick finished explaining. He knew that Kaden's goal was to fight the toughest enemies he could, but he also knew that they didn't have time to go through all the silver and bronze matches to reach the gold before they'd have to return to Kreeli. He also knew that if Kaden didn't beat the top challenge then he'd want to come back again, which was a bad thing for Alister.

"Hey Mick," Alister began after some thought, "could we possibly just start from the Gold Tournament. We're a little short on time you see." Mick thought hard about Alister's request. Finally he gave an answer very hesitantly,

"Well…I guess I could make an exception for fellow Know-it-all and all. However, the Agorian Council For Equal-Opportunity Dismemberment has a rule that no Gladiator can fight a War Grok for the first time on their own. They made the rule because they were losing too many rookies to War Groks since you need to beat one to even win the bronze cup."

"That's fine." said Alister enthusiastically. It was a relief for him to hear, now all Kaden had to do was win the Gold Tournament and they'd be back on Kreeli before anyone ever found out. Alister watched as Mick overrode the access code to the tournament's ranking system to allow Kaden to fight. "Thanks for the help Mick." said Alister as he turned to leave.

"Hey, hold up there kid." replied the Terachnoid. Alister stopped and turned back around. "I scratched your back so how about you scratch mine, eh?"

Alister raised an eyebrow and walked back to the desk, "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"You remember the exciting dance career I mentioned earlier right? Well, tonight there's another show starring yours truly, so how 'bout you come on down, you and your friend. I'll even give you a deal, half off both your tickets. What'd ya say?"

"Hmmmm, I don't know Mick." answered Alister with extreme disinterest. "I told you that we don't have a lot of time here."

"Come on now Kid. You haven't lived until you've seen a Terachnoidian interpretive dance show and your old pal Mick here is offering you tickets for a great price. It's even in the galaxy famous Moonlight Lounge, right here on the Battleplex." Alister began backing away from the registration desk slowly, but Mick refused to accept defeat. "Hey now kid, I did just get your friend a one way ticket to the Gold Tournament. The least you could do is…"

But Mick never finished his sentence. With a loud crash, one of arcade console devices came flying out of nowhere, smashed through his desk and landed on top of him. Pieces of furniture and electronics scatter across the floor. Alister felt a pang of guilt for simultaneously feeling immense relief as her heard Mic's cries of pain.

"Owe! Somebody help me. I can't… I can't feel my legs!"

Alister quickly turned and rushed over to where he knew the source of the flying machine likely was. He was proven right as he quickly came upon Athlima the Gamer going berserk in the lobby. Picking up machines, chairs, and Terachnoids in equal measure and hurling them at the nimble tan furred Lombax doing a victory dance while simultaneously dodging the projectiles.

"You cheated, you miserable little fur ball!" roared the enraged Agorian.

"Don't blame me." Kaden taunted back as he dodged another flying Terachnoid. "You were simply hatched a lesser gamer than I…Athlima the Loser!"

There was collective "Oooo." from a group of Agorians who were watching the whole event play out. Apparently Kaden's smack talk was very potent.

"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted another Agorian as they approached the commontion.

This one was larger than any of the other Agorians around. Immediately everyone either pointed to Kaden or simply ran away in terror. The large Agorian stomped up to Kaden and looked him right in the eye, which was an odd sight, being that it was three times as tall as Kaden was.

"What's a furry pipsqueak like you, doing in my Battleplex?" it growled questioningly. Kaden for his part looked completely unfazed.

"I came to win your tournament. I had a real reason before, but now I think I'll just do it for the fun of it."

"Hahaha." laughed the large Agorian happily, to everyone's surprise. "I like that spirit. It will make killing you in the tournament all the more glorious. Try not to die before we meet and I promise to keep your pelt displayed proudly in my trophy room." The large Agorian then turned to Athlima who was cowering behind one of the few undamaged consoles. "And you. It is a great shame to lose a challenge of skill, but it is an Agorians greatest shame to throw a tantrum and cry about it. If I had my skewering swords right now, I'd teach you the true Agorian way to face defeat."

The large Agorian walked off, leaving a visibly shaken Athlima to fall unconscious to the floor as she fainted. Everyone else in the room that was still alive and conscious breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Terachnoid that had stood in for Kaden picked himself up off the ground and scuttled over to the Lombax himself.

"I can't believe you spoke back to Osiris the Malevolent and can still breathe!" declared the Terachnoid excitedly.

"Osiris?" Kaden questioned. The Terachnoid looked surprised,

"You don't even know who Osiris the Malevolent is?" he gasped. "He's one of the greatest Gladiators to ever fight in the Battleplex. He's said to have killed, tamed, or insulted at least seventy War Groks ever since he killed his first one at the age of six. He is even called 'The War Grok King'!" Alister arrived from behind the Terachnoid and had overheard the conversation.

"He sounds pretty tough" said Alister warningly towards Kaden. Kaden though, didn't show any signs of worry.

"If I didn't expect my enemies to be tough in a gladiator death-match, I'd deserved to get killed." he said calmly. The Terachnoid spoke up again.

"Don't underestimate Osiris though. This is the year of the War Grok and the War Grok King is definitely looking to make this combat season a great one. That means he'll be on the arena floor with his famous seven-foot skewering swords."

Kaden simply nodded his understanding. He and Alister walked off after saying good-bye to the Terachnoid. The large-headed creature wished Kaden the best of luck before turning to leave himself.

After a short walk, the two Lombaxes stood in front of the large doors that Mick had mentioned earlier. Alister had given Kaden a quick summary of the tournament and he was now ready to fight. With a deep breath he led the way through the threshold and into the room beyond.

The room was more of a hallway really. Just past the doors the walls flanking the two Lombaxes turned to glass. Behind them was almost fifty Agorian on each side, all sitting in arena stand seating. They shouted insults and threats at Kaden and Alister as they walked toward the teleporter pad at the other end of the hallway. It seemed very strange to Kaden that a bunch of spectators were sitting her like this and aside from getting to taunt the contestants as they entered, he could see no reason for it.

But now wasn't the time to ponder the thought processes of Agorians. Now was the time to battle. Kaden stood on the pad, prepped his armor, and turned to face Alister.

"Good luck." Alister told him simply with a smile. "You'll need it."

Kaden said nothing. He simply grinned as the teleporter hummed with energy. Just before it peaked Kaden struck a heroic pose and Alister shook his head in good-humored disapproval. Kaden was then wreathed in blue energy before vanishing into thin air.


	20. A New Challenger

Kaden's view warped from that of Alister, surrounded by Agorian spectators behind a glass wall, to one of a large arena floor surrounded by a lake of molten lava. There were spectators here as well, though there were many hundreds more. They were mostly Agorians, but Kaden could see a few other species mixed in as well.

"Here comes our next contestant." boomed a voice over the arena speakers. "Everyone give it up for...Kaden the Better Gamer!"

The crowd cheered as his name was announced, but the tempo rose significantly as the spectators began to notice the species of the newcomer. Kaden didn't pay them any attention. He was completely focused on what he had to do and despite his usually laxness, was going to take this challenge very seriously. With a final calm breath of air, he unclipped the G-83 helmet from his belt hook and placed it over his head. He felt the discomfort as his ears were once again squished against his skull. By now he was getting used to the feeling, but it was still irritating

Kaden didn't have to wait long before the fight began. Throw-porters moved rapidly around the ceiling above him as they waited for an incoming traveler. Throw-porters were a type of teleporter that took the destabilized forms of reintegrating objects and threw them a short distance before the process was completed. They had their benefits, like not having a fixed reintegration point. This allowed combatants to enter the arena without worrying about having a clear place to reassemble (which had all kinds of horrible repercussions), but any teleportation device that didn't use designation-pads were significantly more prone to misaligned atomic structure if not designed properly. As Kaden realized that he had likely just come from one of the Throw-porters, he sincerely hoped that only the Terachnoids had anything to do with their design and assembly.

Suddenly, large yellow balls of light belched from three of the Throw-porters and landed with a flash on the arena floor. When the light dissipated, six close-range Thrashers circled Kaden. Made mostly out of junk, the mechanical combat-bots floated legless on anti-grav pads and both their arms ended in long, sharp, metal blades. Their expressionless faces locked on to Kaden with single-directive obsession.

Kaden decided on starting out lightly by using only his wrench, he didn't want to use up his good equipment before the match got real. When the first Thrasher was in range he flung his OmniWrench in a perfect comet-strike. There was a loud clang as the wrench delivered a blow to the enemy, knocking it backwards and breaking a few components, before sailing cleanly through the air into back Kadens hand.

He repeated the move again on the next Thrasher. His wrench bounced off it, doing the same amount of damage, but then ricocheted onward to strike the first drone a second time. Just as his weapon returned, Kaden could feel the other four Thrashers close around him. He leapt backwards, completing a full backflip, just in time to dodge one of the death-machine's slashing blades.

After he landing he was then behind his assailant and didn't hesitate to deliver a three hit Multi-strike combo. His last two swings were in range with two other Thrashers as well, giving him six hits for the price of two. Each strike knocked the Thrashers back and stunted their counter-attacks. They recovered after surviving his haymaker swing and the two closest ones lifted their blades to strike. They only managed to cut through empty air however, as Kaden leapt back again.

Immediately after landing he threw another Comet-strike at the drones. With a perfect ricochet, the wrench hit all four of the nearest thrashers, causing the three he'd already attacked to explode as their poorly assembled frames finally took too much damage to sustain a form. Before their pieces had even hit the floor, Kaden was in the air again. With his wrench in both hands. It detected the inertial forces of his movement and extended its neck in preparation for a Hyper-strike. With a single clang followed by a small boom, Kaden delivered the heavy hit to the fourth Thrasher and it too exploded.

He turned to the final two Thrashers as they glided emotionlessly toward him, his evisceration the only thing on their processors. Kaden dispatched these two easily with another Comet strike and a couple of simple swings.

"How about that folks?" the Announcer boomed again. "No tools, no weapons, just a Lombax and his wrench." The crowd cheered for Kaden's display as he walked through the shattered pieces of the combat drones. As he did so, he mentally activated the nanite collector strapped to the back of his armor.

In any autonomous creature capable of using Nanotech, be it organic or robotic, there had to be a main control module somewhere in their modules, usually attached to the brain or central damage receptor, instructed nanites on how to repair the systems they were contained in. So long as it was intact, it had absolute control of the nanites in its particular system. Without it however, Kaden's universal hack signals could override the now deactivated nanites.

As his signals echoed invisibly across the arena, the nanites within each shattered piece of Thrasher began to vibrate violently and disintegrate any material it was attached to. As limbs and scrap began to dissolve on the floor, Kaden could see a soft blue mist start to form and float towards him from the newly airborne nanites. The trail of mist ended at Kaden's collection tank. On his HUD, a small bar filled partially. It represented the amount of space he had left in his tank for storage. After it was full, he'd either have to empty it or use it to upgrade a piece of his equipment.

As the cheap, scrap metal bodies of the Thrashers disappeared, the super-tough Bolts that had also been used in their construction were shaken free. Dozens of tiny, golden objects flew up from the ground once the bolt-grabber on Kaden's wrench was close enough to attract them. He grinned inside his mask at the sight of several dozens of Bolts, in many shapes and sizes, that coated his wrench.

There was a familiar hum of energy as the Throw-porters charged again. Four beams of light shot down from the ceiling before hatching into another six Thrashers and two Agorians with long, arm-mounted blades. Two of the Thrashers also sported an energy cannon strapped to their heads. The two Agorians immediately rushed toward Kaden.

Kaden dodged a wide swipe from the first one and was about avoid the second Agorian when it stumbled with a grunt of surprise. It turned around to stare angrily at one of the cannon equipped Thrashers. Apparently it had fired at Kaden and the Agorian had run into the line of fire. Kaden could see a large burn wound on the Agorian's back. Brushing off the slight, the Agorian turned back to its prey and resumed its attack alongside the first one.

Before the match had begun Alister had lent Kaden his Combuster and a few of his grenades. Still not wanting to use his big guns yet, Kaden drew the Combuster and let loose dozens of burning fireballs at both the Agorians and Thrashers. Just like they had in the caves, the Agorians seemed almost immune to the superheated rounds. The Thrashers were much more susceptible.

It didn't take long for Kaden to dispatch the robotic foes with the simple blaster and a few well aimed wrench strikes. Only the Agorians, covered in scars and boils, remained. As they continued to charge headlong at Kaden while swiping with their long arm blades, it was clear that no matter what damage their bodies took their tiny, adrenaline saturated brains did not care. Kaden decided to end them with the simple toss of a single fragmentation grenade followed by a definitive boom.

Before the two Agorians had even hit the ground, the Throw-porters were charging again. A moment later, with hardly time to catch his breath, Kaden was surrounded by over a dozen small red drones and two more Agorians. The drones, known as Pyrospinners, had no sapient features to their design. Two tiny plasma cutters protruded from either end of their round frames and they spun like tops, leaving scorch marks in the arena floor as they closed in on their target.

The Agorians each had an arm cannon and a yellow shield. They kept a safe distance as they lobed their blinking time bombs around the arena floor. Every time Kaden tried to grab one to repeat his move from the mine shaft on Kreeli, a Pyrospinner would block his path, slowing him down enough so that if he'd continued after the bomb it would detonate before he could return it. After the third time it happened he growled in frustration and came up with a new strategy.

Now that he didn't have to worry about cave-ins, he activated his Nuclear Fist and herded all the Pyrospinners to the edge of the arena. Just before his handheld fusion reaction reached critical, Kaden activated his hoverboots and blasted off towards the squall of spinners, leaping clear over them just before the collision. He landed between the two Agorians who put up their shield defensively. Kaden ignored the brutes and continued forward. The Pyrospinners followed and at the exact moment when the Agorians were at the center of the mindless pack, Kaden fired his weapon straight at its heart and hit the ground for cover.

The boom shook the arena floor, causing the moat of lava around it to lap up against its sides. When the dust of vaporized enemies cleared and the crowd got a good look at the result, they began cheering furiously at the amazing display of devastation. The announcer added his comments as well,

"Unbelievable! The little guy made it through without so much as a scratch. I guess we'll have to add another wave or two to this challenge."

There was a flash of light and suddenly Kaden was back on the teleporter pad he'd used to enter the competition. It took him a moment before he realized that the challenge was over. He was also a little surprised at how easy it'd been. The peanut gallery of Agorians was still there and they shouted things like 'You just got lucky' and 'Just wait until Osiris gets his hands on you'. Kaden simply ignored them.

A moment later he detected the familiar sound of hoverboots from outside the doors, just before they slid open to allow Alister to pass through on a trail of fire. He blasted right up to Kaden before cutting his jets.

"Pretty impressive." Alister began approvingly. "You should have heard some of the spectators in the stands. They were losing their minds when you got away without a single hit. They'll probably make that a challenge requirement now." Kaden smiled behind his mask as he began to stretch out and jog in place to keep his body from cooling down.

"That's nothing, I'm saving the big fireworks for the finale." he replied. Alister rubbed his hands together with anticipation,

"I can't wait to see, though the next challenge is supposed to be a survival one. You don't have to kill anyone, just not get killed yourself for about three minutes."

Kaden nodded as he took in the information. It may have been true that it wasn't a challenge requirement to kill more Agorians, but Kaden was here for nanites, not trophies. Besides, they were Agorians. They'd probably be more upset if they survived after losing a challenge. Kaden told Alister that he was about to go for the next round. Alister smacked his shoulder plate for good luck and was about blast off again when Kaden stopped him.

"Wait, are you even allowed to use those in here?" he asked as he indicated Alister's hoverboots.

"Of course you are." Alister said and gave Kaden a mischievous smile. "None of the security guards have told me not to. Though they always get up and start running around when they see me, like they're about to chase someone, so I just leave them alone...in my dust."

Kaden nodded his approval and turned to activate the teleporter again.

* * *

The second challenge wasn't very spectacular. In fact, even a young novelist probably couldn't have described it very excitingly. Several pieces of Arena floor had been elevated and moved away from the central one that Kaden had been placed on. Agorians were then teleported onto the island platforms and would then hurl large flail-like cluster bombs at him. A timer in his HUD said he had a time limit of two minutes and thirty seconds. The announcer had also mentioned something about the Agorians attacking him as being members of some hunter's union and how they loved killing furry creatures for the sport and the pelts.

Kaden didn't have a tough time dodging the spiky bombs though. It was very clear when an Agorian was about to throw another one, because they had to spin it around a few times before they could get a good toss. Occasionally Kaden sent a few Combuster rounds and grenades at them. He got a particularly good sense of satisfaction from when a Combuster shot hit a swinging cluster bomb and detonated it above an Agorian's head.

Slowly however, the number of assailants increased and by about the last minute of the challenge, there were over a dozen Agorians, all hurling cluster bombs at different intervals and had Kaden surrounded on all sides. It was here that he took his first hit. Likely more of an accident than a good shot, the cluster bomb hit him right in the back as he landed from a recent jump. He didn't even see it coming and it knocked him down and across the floor as the Agorian who threw it roared in triumph. Luckily his G-83 armor was plenty strong enough to protect him from a few unlucky hits. This was part of the reason he had chosen to continue wearing it.

Kaden finished the last thirty seconds by getting so fed up with all the incoming bombs that he just put up a shield and started setting off as many Nuclear Fist blasts as he could in the time limit remaining. This wasn't very good for his armor's power core though. It wasn't that he was anywhere near dangerous levels yet, but the thought of being pushed to the point of such a large power consumption worried Kaden slightly...after he had finished the challenge.

He now stood again over the teleporter pad, ready to begin the third round. This one was also timed, but he had to defeat a stream of incoming enemies before it ran out. In a flash he was back on the Arena floor and immediately the enemies started pouring in. At first the stream was easy to handle, mostly just Pyrospinners and blade wielding Thrashers. As he cut them down and more enemies were teleported in, they steadily became tougher.

As he was being surrounded again by robotic enemies and few Agorians, Kaden pulled several containers from his armor's holsters and tossed them across the arena. A brown mist poured out of them as the landed and filled the air around most of the arena. The Agorians at first reacted like it might be poisonous, but as one accidentally breathed it in and showed no ill sideffects, they all turned back to their task of trying to kill Kaden.

A couple seconds later however, the results of the canister's gas could be seen. Dubbed 'Dietary Iron' until Kaden could think of a better name, the small canister had each released hundreds of thousands of tiny robots similar to nanites, with the sole designed and programmed purpose of destroying every piece of metal they could touch. Robots began falling apart or spontaneously exploding from the damage wrought by the tiny machines. One Agorian ran from the brown mist and swung its blades at Kaden. Kaden blocked with his wrench. The moment the two weapons made contact, the Agorian's long blades shattered as the tiny holes that perforated their structure rendered them too brittle to use.

Kaden fought on and as he was about to dispatch another Thrasher with his wrench, he suddenly felt a strong gravity-like force grab him from behind. It lifted him up and pulled him across the arena. He looked up to find that he was headed for a Thrasher with a large ring above his head. It was clearly a grav-tether and the cause of Kaden's vertigo.

The Thrasher pulled back its bladed arms in preparation for Kaden's arrival. Just before it could swing however, Kaden managed strike first. A solid Hyper-strike ended the Thrasher quickly, but the unexpected movement had pulled him within range of another Agorian and it swung its blade true, striking Kaden hard in the stomach and sending him across the arena floor.

"Oooooh, I bet that had to hurt." declared the announcer in the midst of the crowds bloodlust filled cheers.

Kaden could feel the sharp pain from the area where the blade had penetrating his armor. The large gash in his suit oozed blood for just a moment before the Nanotech in his bloodstream repaired the wound and numbed the pain. He then stood back up and gritted his teeth. This wasn't the first painful hit he'd suffered in this match. His armor was covered in dents, gouges, and burn craters. He did have some Nanotech set to repair it as well as himself, but it took a lot of nanites to fully repair something like armor and the whole point of this match was to collect nanites, not use them. Each consecutive hit he suffered would mean a little more lost armor integrity and that meant he'd be receiving even more flesh wounds as time went on.

Kaden straightened his posture, relaxing from his usual combat stance. The Agorians took this as a sign that he'd given up and charged forward with a group spike of adrenaline. Kaden simply removed a grenade from his holsters and tossed it straight up into the air. Most of the enemies around him looked up at the object just before it exploded in a blinding flash of light. The Agorians roared angrily as their eyesight was taken from them. Many of the crowd had also suffered a similar, but diminished effect, due to their distance from the arena. As vision returned to the Agorian warriors they looked around to find their prey. They found Kaden easily, but their confusion did not subside.

Five identical, green armored Lombaxes stood around the arena, each one running away to a different corner while nimbly dodging the droids that hadn't been blinded. The remaining robots processed the information slowly, eventually deciding to simply attack the Lombax that was nearest to them. The Agorians were next to reach the same conclusion, but no one could seem to get another clean hit. The only reason his enemies had really been able to score a hit on Kaden before was because of their overwhelming numbers, but now their focus had been divided by five.

To use his main weapon, Kaden had to let it charge for a short period of time and any damage he took while it did risked detonating the bomb prematurely. Now that the constant pressure of attack was lifted, all five Kaden's activated their Nuclear Fists and at the exact same time, fired them at the same target location. Once again the micro-nuke blasted away a large portion of enemy combatants, leaving only a few stunned Agoirans behind and a wildly excited crowd.

Seconds later reinforcements replaced the lost fighters. Kaden's HUD said he was almost through the challenge. Most of the reinforcements were Agorians though, which were much tougher than the other mindless drones. One particularly aggressive Agorian seemed to take charge of the situation,

"Focus your attack on that one!" it ordered gruffly to a group of cannon wielding Agorians while pointing at a random Lombax.

They did as they were told, too confused by the number of identical opponents to argue, and unleashed a constant salvo of time bombs and fireballs toward the designated target. The warrior that had taken charge, even with the intelligence of an Agorian, had noticed that none of the Lombaxes had attacked on their own so far. Their only retaliation had been with the single heavy explosive attack, aimed at the same point, which made it impossible to tell if they were all real.

As Kaden desperately avoided the sudden focus of incoming weaponry the lead Agorian charged with his large arm-mounted swords. Too busy to notice it, Kaden was a sitting duck as the Agorian swung hard, aiming for his neck...and cutting right through it.

There was no blood or even a reaction from the Lombax. The blade had simply passed right through Kaden as if through air. The Agorian grinned triumphantly as the image of the Lombax flickered, pixelated, then finally disappeared, revealing a floating metal orb where the hologram's chest had been.

"They're just holograms!" roared the Agorian leader as he waved a hand toward the hovering orb. The other Agorians took a moment from their assault to see what he was talking about. "Only one of the little fur balls is real. All we have to do is..."

The Agorian's words were cut off as the holo-projection orb detonated in a huge explosion that ripped it limb from limb. As the other Agorians recovered from the surprise of the sudden explosion, another Holo-clone leapt into the center of four Agorians and detonated in the same way, vaporizing them all.

With grunts and growls of anguish, the other Agorians ran from the remaining three Lombaxes, terrified that the one they were fighting was actually a bomb in disguise. Another holo-clone headed straight for another group of Agorians. The moment they saw its intentions, they dispersed, not wanting to give it more victims for its single suicide attack. Seeing that it couldn't get them all, it then chased down a single Agorian and lifted one of its arms towards it as it ran. With a ringing twang, two spikes attached to wire launched from its wrist and embedded themselves in the Agorian's back. Kaden poured high voltage electricity directly into his enemy's body, frying it from the inside out.

The other Agorians that had fled from the suspected clone saw what Kaden had done and called to their compatriots when they realized the truth. The moment the real Lombax was revealed, every Agorian charged headlong after Kaden with even more drive than before. They all wanted to finish the fight before he could mix in with the remaining doppelgangers. With a piercing whine, Kaden activated his hoverboots and sped straight towards the center of them. With a boost of fire he leapt over the group, dropping Alister's grenades as he did. Explosions went off one after another as the front ranks took the brunt of the damage.

Disorientated, the remaining Agorians turned to give chase once again, but found that their target was standing right next to them. The nearest Agorians looked down in confusion. Realization dawned on their faces just before the third Holo-clone detonated in their midst.

When the smoke cleared only one Agorian remained. It stood quivering on its scrawny legs as the two remaining Lombaxes approached it slowly from opposite sides. Both of the Kaden's raised their hands and electricity sparked across the air around them. Knowing what was coming, the Agorian shifted its fear and indecision into rage. Raising both swords in to the air, it roared defiantly and sprinted after one of its enemies at random.

The charging hum grew louder, but the Agorian heard nothing except the pounding of its own heart as it ran head long towards its target, arms spread wide and ready to strike. It roared once again just before coming within range of the Lombax and slammed headfirst into a repulsor shield that had appeared from nowhere.

The Agorian fell to the ground as its head spun from the impact. Kaden lowered his shield and ran the opposite direction from his enemy. The audience laughed at the antics and the Agorian warrior felt great shame. Even the announcer was simply laughing over the speakers rather than commenting.

As its headache gave way to even more rage and anger the Agorian got back on its feet. Roaring again it prepared to charge once more, but there was suddenly silence from the crowd. This caused the Agorian to pause in wonder. It looked around in confusion until it saw the small Lombax standing to its side waving cheerfully. The Agorian's shoulders slumped and it whimpered sadly before the final Holo-clone exploded in its face.

The crowd erupted in cheers and the room rang with applause as the announcer, to his stated surprise, declared Kaden the winner. Kaden breathed heavily as his muscles protested the extreme strain they'd been put under. Once again the arena was replaced in a flash by the now familiar teleporter room. The battered Lombax took a few steps away from the pad and sat down on the floor. Alister showed up a moment later as usual, grinning widely and full of giddy excitement.

"That was nuts!" he exclaimed before he even stopped his boots. "Why didn't I ever get to test out the suicide Kadens?"

Kaden wrenched off his helmet and breathed in deeply before laying his head against the glass wall behind him. The clear material felt cool on his fur. The ever present Agorian peanut gallery was behind it, jeering and throwing insults as always, but both Kaden and Alister were tuning them out naturally by now.

"I'll tell you what," Kaden began, breathless with exhaustion, "if I survive this, I'll give you a set of your own Holo-Alisters. How about that?" Instead of looking happy from the promise of toys Alister's expression got more serious and concerned,

"Are you going to be ok?" he asked with his eyes focused on the large gash in Kaden's stomach. Kaden nodded reassuringly,

"It's not as bad as it looks and besides," Kaden reached behind him and pulled out a large container full of blue liquid, "I'd say that things are going better than expected nanite-wise. I'm going to rest for a bit, would you mind getting my spare nanite tank from the harvester? I didn't think I'd need it, but if the next couple challenges are even tougher than the last one, I will." Alister shook his head,

"If the next few challenges are any worse than the last one, you might not make it." he said solemnly. Kaden laughed him off,

"Do you think we could figure out a believable story to get away with visiting the infirmary again?" he asked while simultaneously changing the subject. "I'm probably going to need a full bio-scan after this." Alister thought for a bit,

"I don't know what possible work related accident could cause all the Nanotech scars that you have. Maybe if told them you jumped head-first into the ore pulverizer in the processing department." Alister answered. "Besides, I thought you didn't like the med-bay. You were acting weird after the last time you went." Kaden furled his eyebrows as he tried to recall what Alister was talking about,

"Actually, now that you mention it, I don't really remember clearly how the whole thing went." Kaden admitted. "But I feel like nurse Gigi was really good at her job."

"Gigi?" asked Alister in confusion. "There's no way Gigi could have given you your examination. At the time, she was running around outside the head doctor's office half-na..." Alister stopped and his eyes widened with realization. He looked back down at Kaden with an even more serious expression than before. "Kaden...when we get back to Kreeli, we need to have a serious talk about something." Kaden tried briefly, but couldn't think of anything that might explain what Alister meant by his words.

"Whatever you want." he said dismissively as he began examining his armor's damage more closely and running system diagnostics. "Just two more challenges to go."


	21. Like a Lomboss

Alister helped Kaden replace the nanite container on his back as well as adjust a few other components of armor. Despite his initial concern, he did have to admit that the damage to it had looked worse than it was. Only a few attacks had actually managed to reach fur, and of them only the one on Kaden's stomach had actually caused any real damage. The rest of the dents and scratches were just superficial. Any circuitry that was damaged while fighting was quickly repaired with Kaden's personal supply of nanotech. Despite the massive tank full that he had though, Kaden hadn't replenished his personal supply.

"Kaden," Alister began as he checked one of the suit's power lines, "I know the point is to save as many nanites as possible, but couldn't you use a few that you've collected to repair your armor?" Kaden flexed his gauntlets to make sure the joints had stopped tightening up.

"I would if I could actually, but the nanites I've collected so far are still tuned to whichever enemy I took them from. I can force them to vibrate wildly then suck them up into a container, but I'll need to recalibrate them back at the Lab before I can use them."

"Ah." said Alister with comprehension. Kaden finished gearing up and did one last quick trot around the room to ensure that there were no other problems with his armor.

"Well, I'm ready for the fourth challenge I guess." he said unenthusiastically.

"Just remember that this next round is supposed to be a death match with another Gold Cup challenger. Unlike you, they've actually beaten the Bronze and Silver Cup tournaments. It's guaranteed to be a tough match." Kaden nodded his understanding to his friend. One of the Agorians behind the glass took this time to draw attention to itself.

"Hahaha." It laughed mockingly. "I know who you'll be fighting. This warrior is guaranteed to put on a great 'show'." Many of the other Agorians growled and grunted their agreement with the first and a few others laughed as well. Kaden simply ignored them.

"I didn't come all this way to give up now. How tough could they be anyway?" Alister shook his head.

"Famous last words, just watch your tail."

Kaden smiled and patted his waist, where his tail was wrapped around and covered in a layer of armor. Alister smiled back and gave him his usual good-luck shoulder smack, before Kaden headed into teleporter.

In a flash Kaden was back on the arena floor with the crowd and the lava all around. Immediately the announcer spoke,

"Ok folks, it's time to for the second greatest challenge that the Battleplex has to offer. Two Gladiators go in and only one or less comes out. Today we have our surprisingly hard to kill newcomer, Kaden the Better Gamer," There was a strong mix of reaction from the crowds. Half seemed to applaud Kaden while the other half clearly had hoped for him to die in the previous matches. Kaden ignored both. "Versus a true showman of the arena floor, someone who never lets a match get dull, you all know him, because he's impossible to miss, join me in welcoming...Percy the Dazzling!"

This time the entire crowd erupted in cheer as the ring in the center of the arena opened and disco music began to play through the loud speakers. Mist spewed from the floor opening and the metallic sound of a moving elevator lift was almost drowned out by the crowd as they all began to chant the name 'Percy' over and over again.

Through the mist, Kaden could barely make out the form of an Agorian. It was bent over and kneeling with its head down. Kaden was wary though. He got into a defensive stance and prepared for whatever surprises this 'Percy' could deliver. The figure continued to rise with the elevator and the sounds of both the crowd and the music softened slightly, as if in anticipation.

There was loud blast of music as the Agorian leapt into the air and out from the cover of the mist. The crowd roared as Percy began to rapidly move around the edge of the arena on what appeared to be wheels strapped to a pair of boots. If Kaden recalled correctly, they were known as 'roller skates'. This wasn't the most interesting part though. What really grabbed the crowd's attention was that Percy was also wearing a blindfold.

Kaden wasn't fooled though. With the way that his opponent was zipping around the arena, he knew that Percy the Dazzling had to have been able to see. Even though his moves looked like the hectic and random movements of a blind skater, the simple fact was that there was no way any Agorian could skate that close to edge of the lava moat without being able to see or eventually falling...Kaden barely heard the gasp of surprise that left Percy's mouth as his feet lost contact with the arena floor. It was immediately replaced by a confused yelp of pain that was quickly drowned out as the Agorian's head was submerged under the lava's surface.

For a long time the crowd kept cheering, but as the famed Agorian failed to resurface, slowly they began to quiet until the entire arena was veiled in absolute silence.

"Well folks," broke in the announcer hesitantly, "I always thought Percy was more of 'the Incongruous' than 'the dazzling' really...ha, eh...let me check my rule book."

There was a brief moment of silence that was quickly filled with the buzzing of confused chatter. Kaden stayed in his defensive position, he didn't want to put anything past his enemies, but it also seemed like what he just witnessed was too stupid to be real. Soon however, the announcer came back on the speakers,

"According to the rulebook here, let's see...'One-on-one arena combat begins the moment both contestants enter the arena. If a contestant is killed in less than ten seconds, there will be a formal inquiry and the match results will be postponed until such time as their review'. Jimmy, what was the time on that match?" There was another brief pause and then the holo-screens that dotted the arena ceiling flashed a number. It read: 11.35 sec. "Well, then." The announcer continued with the sound of book slamming shut, "It seems that Kaden has won...congratulations?"

Kaden disappeared in a flash of light, just as the arena was filled with outcries of disappointment, boos, and shouts of anger. The Lombax stood on the teleporter pad, still in his defensive stance, in the challenge lobby. Despite how many times he reviewed it in his head, some part of him just couldn't accept the fact that he'd won without moving an inch.

The peanut gallery was as dead silent and confused as Kaden was. Instead of hurling their usual insults, they just sat there. Kaden shook himself back to reality. He took a step off the teleporter pad then stopped himself, turned back around, and walked right back onto it.

* * *

Kaden arrived back into the arena to find the crowd in utter chaos. Agorians fought with each other and tossed the helpless few non-Agorians around in their utter dissatisfaction. The announcer tried to calm them down with repeated promises of matches to come, but no one seemed to hear. That was until he noticed Kaden's return for the fifth and final match of the Gold Tournament.

"Listen up folks! This is the moment you've all been waiting for. Here to take on the single most dangerous challenge here at the Battleplex, where he will go head to head with a massive piece of military hardware and...a War Grok! Welcome back Kaden the Better Gamer!"

The crowd slowly stopped fighting and yelled their approval. They started to fight again, but this time it was over the seats as everyone tried to claim the ones closest to the front in the chaos.

"First up is the War Grok." the announcer continued. "For some reason my monitor says that this is Kaden's first time fighting one at the Battleplex, which should be impossible, but I don't care at this point. Ladies and gentlemen, the Agorian council has heard your cries of anguish over the previous match and has taken it into consideration when they chose who this young Lombax's partner will be. Give it up for the King of the War Groks himself...Osiris the Malevolent!"

The roar of the crowd reached a pitch that Kaden had yet to think possible as the figure of Osiris the Malevolent rose from the center of the arena just like Percy had. Attached to each arm was a blade that measured at least seven feet long. Osiris raised both of them into the air and the rafters and holo-boards shook with the thunderous sound of the Battleplex patrons' cheers and applause. Slowly the Agorian's lizard-like features turned from the crowd to come to rest on Kaden. Osiris then walked forward.

"It's seems you've kept our promise Lombax." bellowed Osiris with a hugely satisfied grin. "I was worried when the council declared me too experienced to be matched with you in the last challenge. Lucky for both of us that Percy the Incongruous was a fool to the very end." Kaden stepped forward to face the oversized Agorian, his voice echoing through his helmet with the same terrifying, metallic tone as Kor,

"But this is not a battle between us. You only get a shot at me if the War Grok doesn't kill me first." said Kaden. He was suspicious of anyone who would talk about killing him when their job was to help him (or anyone who wanted to kill him in general). Osiris threw back his head laughed loudly,

"I've slain dozens of these beasts; they are no match for me and my blades. I will guarantee you this, Kaden the Better Gamer...no War Grok will get the pleasure of killing you whilst I still stand." Osiris stood a few feet away and turned to face the arena lift from whence he'd come, just as he'd done dozens of times before.

Kaden shrugged and started to jog in place to keep his muscles loose. This was the fifth and final round. If he survived, then it was all over and he could leave with a shiny gold trophy and his real prize, the nanites.

The cheering of the crowd began to subside and silence began to fill the arena. It became so quiet you could almost hear the collective breathing of the fans. Tension began to build steadily until it was broken by the announcer,

"The War Grok!" he boomed over the speaker. The moment he did so, the mechanical sounds of the elevator lift screeched into life.

It zoomed to the arena floor, carrying on it a massive ape like creature covered mostly with white fur, but its back appeared to be some kind of organic, rocky volcano. It reared up on its hind legs and roared while repeatedly beating its chest with its massive fists. It came back down on all fours a moment later with an echoing thud. Its pupil-less eyes locked onto Kaden and Osiris and it growled angrily, barring its fangs while drool dripped from its mouth.

Kaden gulped involuntarily. The creature was bigger than he'd expected it to be. He'd need a lot of firepower to bring it down. He decided to go for broke right out of the gate. Since Osiris's only weapons were close range he could assume that the Agorian would attack first. This distraction should give him enough time to charge his Nuclear Fist and with any luck he could put the tiny exploding star in a sensitive spot.

Just as Kaden raised his hand to charge the blast, a huge blade came swinging in from the corner of his vision. He moved as quickly as his reflexes would allow, but they weren't quick enough to prevent the blade from carving out a line of meat from the side of his ribcage. Kaden felt the shooting pain of his nerves screaming as the blade touched bone.

The force of his reaction and the hit sent him sliding away across the arena floor. He stopped himself and came up to his feet, hand clamped onto the newly opened wound at his side as the Nanotech quickly fixed the worst of the damage.

"What are you doing?!" Kaden yelled at the madly grinning Agorian as it licked blood off its blades.

"I told you, I'm here to collect your hide." Osiris explained as if it were obvious.

A second wave of pain hit Kaden as the initial shock of the cut wore off and this time he almost vomited. The damage must have been very severe if the Nanotech was prioritizing tissue repair over any and all pain relief.

"You're supposed to help me win this match." Kaden continued through teeth clenched in pain. "That's against the rules."

Osiris laughed at Kaden's words, "And so is participating in the gold tournament without first winning the bronze and silver." he retorted. "Now prepare to die Lombax!"

Osiris cocked his right arm back in preparation to strike while gazing hungrily at Kaden's hunched form and then charged. Kaden raised his wrench to defend himself while trying to figure out the best move to make in his weakened condition. Just before Osiris was within range to strike, a massive grey hand slammed into the floor between them.

The War Grok roared at Osiris, splattering him with spittle. The Agorian wasn't fazed at all by the threatening display. His simply smirked up at the beast. The War Grok sweep its massive hand towards Osiris, but the Agorian leapt over the attack with practiced ease. The War Grok then swung its other fist down the same way, which Osiris once again dodged easily. The War Grok roared in frustration and reared up on its hind legs. It then brought both hands swinging in at Osiris at the same time. Osiris laughed as he took a quick and precisely timed step backwards and to the side. The palms of the War Grok's hands collided at the exact spot the Agorian had just been. The crushing force of attack was so powerful that it compressed the air enough to make it visible for a moment. It blasted out from between the creature's palms like a slicing blade.

As the two fought Kaden took advantage of the situation. He raised his arm and activated his Nuclear Fist once again. An ironic situation, considering it had been his plan to let Osiris distract the War Grok before he'd known that the Agorian wasn't planning on helping him. Now he just had to decide which of the two bloodthirsty monsters he wanted to kill first. Kaden's subconscious yelled to kill the bigger one, so that's what he went with.

The compressed ball of reacting plasma flew from his hand and hit the War Grok square in its shoulder. There was a roar of pain from the beast as flesh and bone was vaporized. When the light had dissipated and Kaden's lenses had unshielded he could then see the results of his attack. The War Grok was still on its feet, but almost all of its shoulder had been vaporized. One eye was shut tight, likely damaged badly or destroyed, and its arm hung loosely at its side.

There was an odd sound, almost like a whimper, from the beast. It roared again, but didn't attack. Instead it shuffled backward toward the corner of the arena, watching the Lombax and the Agorian cautiously. Osiris got back to his feet from where the explosion had knocked him down. He brushed himself off and walked toward Kaden casually. Kaden put his wrench on guard and stood straight now that his wounds had healed.

"I pegged you wrong Lombax." said Osiris in an almost friendly tone. "I thought you'd try to kill me while I played with that foolish beast and yet you scared it off so that we could fight properly. I'm honored." Kaden began to circle around Osiris who had now gotten back into his own attack pose.

"Maybe I just thought that you'd be easier to handle than a two ton bloodthirsty War Grok." Kaden shot back as he slowly reached for a canister in his weapons holster. Osiris smiled widely as he stopped moving with his blades poised,

"Then you thought wrong."

Osiris leapt forward, much faster than Kaden had thought possible with an Agorian's tiny legs. He barely had time to throw up his wrench one-handed while holding the canister in his other. With a flash of sparks Kaden deflected the first attack. He jumped backwards to put some distance between them, but Osiris kept close no matter what. Kaden swung down as Osiris swung up and sparks flashed again from the collision. Kaden rolled away and Osiris put on more pressure as he delivered a devastating storm of strikes and jabs. Kaden couldn't block them all. Here and there a few would manage to scrape the edge of his armor, but they were all part of Osiris's fighting style. Once Kaden was off balance enough, the experienced Agorian gladiator struck the main blow.

With an unintentional shout of pain and surprise, Kaden felt a seven foot long skewering sword stab straight through his right shoulder. The blade passed both layers of armor and the flesh in-between. The force of the thrust was enough to knock him off his feet and pin him to the floor. Osiris howled a victory cry as put his face close to Kaden's, mad delight shining brightly from his eyes.

"This is it Lombax." Osiris hissed as he salivated with anticipation.

Kaden struggled against the pain in his arm. He couldn't raise his wrench to defend. Osiris raised his free arm high behind him, its blade prepared to sever Kaden's head from his shoulders. He still had the canister in his hand, but at this range it would do as much damage to him as his enemy. Just before the blow came down, Kaden swung his feet up in an attempt to kick his assailant's face. Osiris laughed as Kaden's feet come up short of their target; instead they simply fluttered futilely just in front of it. Kaden grinned inside his helmet and with a mental command, ignited his hover boots.

The roar of jets was almost drowned out with the shriek of pain the came from Osiris's throat as the Agorian pulled back from the heat reflexively. Kaden gritted his teeth tightly and had to fight back his own cry of pain as the sword blade was yanked from his shoulder.

Nearly blinded, Osiris swung his blades wildly around. When he finally regained his sight, he paused a moment in order to evaluate the situation. Kaden used this opportunity and got in under the Agorian's guard. His right arm was still healing and he couldn't bring up his wrench to swing. Instead he leapt up and grabbed hold of an armor strap that lay across the Osiris's chest with his good arm.

Osiris looked down in surprise to find the Lombax clinging to his chest like an infant. He was also surprised to realize that his swords where too long to be of any use in this situation. _It didn't matter though._ he thought as he laughed inwardly. All he had to do was grab hold of his wounded prey and peel it off like a tic. Osiris reached over to do it, but paused. He just now noticed that the Lombax was no longer gripping the canister from earlier. His trained warrior ears picked up the sound of something round and metallic rolling on the ground behind him.

He was about to run away, but the acid filled grenade went off at that very moment. Green liquid splattered across the Agorian's back. More howls of pain echoed as the acid eat through armor and skin with equal ease. Kaden was completely untouched by the spray, having used Osiris as a living shield. With his plan completed he then jumped down from his perch and put as much distance between him and his enemy as possible. He could feel the tiny nanites reweaving the muscle tissue in his shoulder and it hurt to say the least.

With half his body covered in blisters and most of his face scorched, Osiris the Malevolent turned to face his enemy once again. His glare was piercing. It was no longer filled with the joyous rush of combat. Now it only burned with hot rage and chilled with cold determination. The only thing on his mind now was the thought of dismembering the Lombax in front of him.

Kaden returned the glare as he calculated his chances of another encounter. The simple fact was that Osiris was too fast and too strong for him to beat with only a wrench and a Combuster. He was out of grenades, tricks, and didn't stand a snowball's chance on Rykan V of charging up a Nuclear Fist shot before Osiris could stop him. No matter how many calculations he did, every time they would come to the same conclusion and it wasn't a good one. His time for calculation was up when Osiris began to charge again.

The Agorian ran full tilt without breaking his hate-filled glare. Kaden switched his wrench to his left hand since his right wasn't back to full strength yet. He didn't think he could survive another onslaught, but it was looking like he didn't have a choice. That was when a miracle happened. An eardrum shattering roar filled the arena as the massive War Grok got over its wound and its predatory animal instincts took over, driving its aggression once more.

It didn't attack though. Instead it hunched down and pointed the volcano shaped hump on its back towards Osiris. Several squishy, popping noises rang out as the War Grok fired what looked like purple balls of flesh from its back. As each blob hit the floor however, they sprouted legs. Dozens of small, eyeless creatures scurried around with bulbous heads that had yellow pustules on them. As they surrounded Osiris their oversized head deformed even more to squeeze out projectile balls of acidic saliva. There was enough parasites launched that they managed to land by Kaden as well and he dove to avoid their attacks as they splashed with a hiss around him.

Kaden swung with his wrench and used his Combuster to clear the area of the parasites. They were more a nuisance than a challenge. As they died, they dissolved and their nanites were harvested like all of his other enemies. It was a mild surprise to Kaden that the creatures had Nanotech in their bloodstream, but it made sense as he realized that they were symbiotic to the War Grok and the War Grok had probably eaten dozens of enemies in battle, which included their nanites.

Kaden dove again to avoid another acid lugy, but ended up dodging something much worse. A sharp zing reached Kaden's auditory sensors as a seven foot long skewering sword scraped the paint off of the top of his helmet. Had Kaden not been wearing his completely contained G-83 armor, he would most certainly have just lost an ear.

With an extra role added to his dive, Kaden came back up, facing his attacker and was greeted by the sight of a very enraged Agorian covered with hissing green acid and standing at the end of a long path carved from the shredded bodies of the War Grok parasites. Osiris didn't let Kaden regain his balance. The Agorian was stabbing and slashing so fast that Kaden could only block the onslaught because the attacks were wild and poorly aimed. Still, Osiris pushed Kaden backwards without uttering a single word of insult or intimidation. He cared nothing for glory or honor or fame, he only wanted to kill.

Just as Osiris was gaining the upper hand however, the War Grok saved Kaden again...kind of. From out of nowhere a massive grey palm swatted the tiny Lombax clear across the arena floor. In his dizzied state, Kaden was just able to activate his hoverboots to stop him from heading off its edge and into the lava.

With his prey stolen, Osiris instead turned his wrath on the bloodthirsty beast that had stolen it. With a bellow of anger he began carving long, bloody lines in the War Grok's arm and body. Every counter-attack it tried to make was easily avoided with such practiced ease that it was effortless even in the Agorian's diminished state of mind. The War Grok was soon running out of steam from the effort of throwing around its gargantuan body and from the numerous wounds it was suffering. Seizing the moment, Osiris got in close for his famous finishing blow where he would bury one of his swords into the War Grok's heart.

The heart of a War Grok was especially large, even when the creature's size is taken into consideration. Add on the muscle and its thick hide, the only way for Osiris to kill one with a single stab was to drive his seven foot blade, at least five feet deep, to ensure the organ's failure. He pulled back his arm to strike with his blade aiming straight at the beast's chest. Then he punched forward, sending long sword forward like a loosed arrow, speeding to its target. Just before the strike was made, an OmniWrench came flying in from out of nowhere. It struck his arm with a bone cracking thwack and weakened his strike.

The War Grok reared up and roared with pain and anger as Osiris's sword penetrated its chest. It was only three feet deep and off target, but it was deep enough that the surprised Agorian was lifted up off the ground with it still stuck in the War Grok. Osiris blinked in confusion as he dangled from the War Grok's chest. When his senses came back, he pulled back his other blade to strike again, but it was too late. The War Grok looked down at its attacker and enclosed Osiris's head within its colossal fist.

Muffled yells of surprise horror emanated from the War Grok's clenched fist as it lifted the trapped Agorian into the air, snapping off the sword in its chest. Osiris's arms flailed as he tried desperately to stab at the War Grok with his remaining sword. He managed to drive its tip a good foot into the War Grok's forearm, but the creature knew not to let go. Instead it squeezed with everything it had until a wet, stomach churning pop echoed around the now silent arena.

Rearing up as tall as it could, the War Grok threw Osiris's body into the stunned crowd, and then it threw something else at the crowd on the opposite side of the arena. The spectator that the object had hit, fainted. With its foe defeated the War Grok roared triumphantly and beat its chest in display of its might. This act drove the rest of the skewering sword stuck in its chest all the way through its heart. The War Grok grunted and its eye widened in surprise, before it toppled to the ground dead.

The crowd was too stunned to react. Even as the War Grok's body began to dissolve, not even the announcer had a noise to make. When nanites are left without a signal from a control module for a long time, like the ones in the War Grok, they deactivate and go dormant in their host's body. In order to reactivate them, a very complex electromagnetic signal was necessary to activate them before the usual hack command could make them vibrate out. Unfortunately, the thick hide of most creatures distorted any signal, especially if they moved. Now that even the War Grok's blood had stopped pumping, Kaden's hack signal could finally get through. As a vast, blue mist began to form from the War Grok's carcass, Kaden felt a little nanite fever when he saw that it was going to be a huge haul.

At that moment, someone somewhere watching the arena match had managed to break from their shocked state long enough to engage the next phase of the challenge. With the screech of the elevator lift, a large, three-headed Hydra tank burst from the floor like a deadly flower. All three of its mechanical heads reared up and roared as activation energy flowed through them. They spun around on a drum like base that was attached to a set of tank treads and faced their designated target.

Kaden barely had time to think before orbs of burning plasma began raining down on him from the mouths of three heads and the Hydra tank began chasing after him. He zigzagged across the floor as he moved to get out of the line of fire. As he ran, one of the heads stopped its shower of blasts and blew a stream of fire across the arena floor. Kaden stopped himself from hitting it, but it then moved radial towards him as the head spewing directed it.

Before he could react, Kaden was bathed in plasma and he felt every inch of his armor heat up. The parts of skin and fur, where the armor's protection was thinnest and where previous rents in it still remained, were cooked like steak. There was no single sharp pain like when he'd been stabbed or cut. It was everywhere on his body.

Biting back the pain, Kaden planted his feet firmly where he stood and as the next salvo of plasma streams came at him, he activated his repulsor shield. When the superheated gas splashed against his shield he then activated his Nuclear Fist. This set up was perfect for him and his particular weaponry.

After seeing its ranged attack was useless, the Hydra tank rolled forward in an attempt to crush him. Before it got more than five feet however, Kaden's attack was ready. A moment later there was a familiar scream of ionizing air followed by a massive, arena rattling explosion and a blinding flash of light.

When Kaden could see again, the Hydra tank was still, but it was heavily damaged. Kaden smiled wide and laughed inside his own helmet. After everything he'd been through, this at least would be easy. Unfortunately his good feelings didn't last. All three mechanical head folded back up into the tank with sparks falling from extensively damage components. A powerful force field raised itself over them like and umbrella and a ring of plasma belched from the tank's undercarriage.

Kaden jumped the ring easily, but he knew that the shield was likely impenetrable, even with his nuclear blasts. A moment later, his heart sank as he watched the damaged Hydra tank repair itself under the shield with Microtech.

Microtech was the cheaper, older version of Nanotech. Using repair bots over a hundred times larger than nanites (but still too small to see with the naked eye) it could quickly repair simple, large machinery like the Hydra tank. They were infinitely reusable since they had the strength to re-assimilate damaged material and rebuild it. Microtech's downside was that they couldn't work on sensitive material like organic creatures or advanced circuitry. They were also susceptible to heat, concussion, and hacking. Once the shield was lowered the Micro-bots would have to be stored inside the tank's drum to protect them.

Just as concern was starting to creep back into Kaden's mind, he spotted three versa-fuses sticking out from under the neck of each Hydra head. His heart leapt at the good fortune. If he could just yank those out he could sever the heads' connections and destroy the tank. He ran for the versa-fuse, but stopped himself.

_It was too obvious. _he thought about halfway to them. Not even Agorians were dumb enough to expose their heavy siege weapons' one weakness out in the open during its most vulnerable and approachable time. The only answer Kaden could think of that they were a trap. He felt his suspicions confirmed as another wave of fire blasted out from the tank. He was sure that the versa-fuses probably weren't even real.

This left Kaden pleased with himself about figuring out the Agorian's ruse, but also with no way of killing the giant tank. As he thought hard about the problem and dodged more blasts of plasma, the Hydra tank finished its repairs. Kaden repeated the process of shielding himself and firing a Nuclear Fist blast only to find himself back in the same situation. At the current rate, he'd run out of power cells before he put a single permanent dent in the tank's hull.

There was glint of light from the arena floor that Kaden saw from the corner of his eye and suddenly he had the solution. He sprinted over the object he'd seen as the Hydra tank followed with its barrage of plasma. As Kaden reached his target, he turned and once again activated his shield and blasted the Hydra tank into its repair sequence. As it folded up under its energy barrier Kaden reached down and picked up the remains of Osiris the Malevolent's shattered sword (freed from the recently dissolved War Grok).

Kaden drove the sword into the ground by its point and reached out his hands to form a cup around it. With a mental command, he activated the magnets in his gauntlets. The area around the sword piece was super-magnetized and soon metallic dust from all of the previous battles began attracting to it. He continued to raise the power until a huge black cloud of vaporized gladiator weaponary and robots was being sucked toward his hands like a vacuum. All the material gathered around the sword and he moved his hands slowly down and along it to let it collect evenly until it was over two feet in diameter.

Kaden stretched out his arms lengthwise around the dust covered sword and yanked it out of the ground with just his magnetic field generator. It flowed gently in the air completely covered in metal dust except for the glinting sword tip. Kaden had cannibalized the Metal Storm prototype to build his Nuclear Fists. Now it was ironic that he'd use it to manipulate metal on the battle field after all. Kaden reversed the polarity on his magnets, forcing a repulsion effect rather than an attraction. He repelled the sword and dust from all sides, forcing it to crush itself to almost half its previous size.

The Hydra tank finished its repairs and its snake-like heads roared awake again. All three head turned to face Kaden before bitting into the ground. The tank's tracks began to spin and pieces of the arena floor were thrown up as the three head held off its movement until it could build enough speed. Kaden aimed his super-dense projectile towards the metal behemoth and the two titans of the Battleplex faced each other one last time.

With a scream of strained metal, the Hydra tank sped forward at full speed. Kaden didn't flinch as his magnets continued to charge. The hum grew to a point where it could be heard even over the sound the Hydra tank and then finally, Kaden squeezed his arms together. The polarized magnets of his armor touched the metal spear and his arms became the twin rails of a rail gun. With barely a hiss of displaced air, the makeshift bolt flashed across the arena at a speed too fast the see. It sliced the atmosphere like a laser scalpel through frozen nitrogen.

The spear hit squarely down the middle of the center head and split it clean in half. Peeling it apart like a banana, before proceeding down into the tank's metallic body. The projectile decimated every component in its line of trajectory before exiting out the other side and burying itself under the arena floor.

Kaden stepped out of the way as the Hydra tank slowed to a halt just before touching the edge of the arena and into the lava pit. A second later it detonated in an eruption of metal and fire that showered the area in scrap.

There were no cheers like there usually was and the announcer said nothing, the crowd was simply too stunned to make a noise. The War Grok King had just been killed by a War Grok and a Lombax stood victorious over their greatest Battleplex challenge yet. The silence was deafening.

"Yah Kaden!" bellowed a white furred Lombax from the front row.

As if a switch had been hit, every spectator in the arena burst out in cheer at the top of their lungs. There was clapping and stomping and celebratory throwing of the smallest crowd members. Soon a chant began, hailing: "Kaden! Kaden! Kaden!".

Kaden almost fell over unconscious right then and there from the wave of relief that washed over him. He watched with indescribable satisfaction as a rolling storm of blue mist drifted over the arena floor and was sucked straight into his collection canister, almost filling it to capacity. It was true that some of it was Microtech, but he'd find a use for it anyway.

Over the sound of the crowd the announcer came on, "Wow, what a spectacle. I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like it in all my days as a Battleplex announcer." The cheers redoubled at the declaration, but there was something wrong with announcer's tone. "Yes, yes, it was quite a show. Unfortunately it has been brought to the attention of Agorian council that Kaden the Better Gamer...does meet the Battleplex minimum height requirement of at least six feet. I am thus forced to announce that he is to be disqualified and declare the winner of the Gold Cup to be the late Osiris the Malevolent."

The cheers of the arena immediately shifted to boos and the celebratory throwing of small spectators became disgruntled throwing of small spectators. Riots and fighting began breaking out all over the arena before Kaden was teleported away...with a huge grin on his face.


	22. Return

Alister zoomed down the halls of the Battleplex on twin rocket trails. Everywhere he went was chaos. The entire Battleplex was going nuts and not just the Agorians. Terachnoids were all over the place, yelling things like "How could my calculations be wrong" and "I lost everything on that match".

The Agorians were rioting, though it was hard to tell if it was because they were angry or excited. They yelled things like "The Lombax must have cheated" and "No hoverbooting in the halls". Clearly they had lost their minds and were not to be listened to.

It took Alister a few minutes longer to return to the teleporter room than it had before, as he dodged around the raucous patrons of the Battleplex. When he made it to the entrance, he could hear the noise of rioting beyond the doors before they even opened. When they finally did, he found the room crowded with Agorians. The class walls were shattered and the seats mostly vacated. Despite the chaos however, Alister didn't have to look for Kaden; his tan furred friend was at the center of the crowd, being held up like a rock star while the Agorians that held him cheered and shouted praise.

Not all the Agorians were happy though. The ones on the outside, between the doors and Kaden, formed a line to block his exit.

"We should skin him alive for the cowardly way he killed The King." yelled one Agorian.

"You are the coward." another retaliated. "You shame all Agorian kind by denying him the honor earned in the Battleplex."

"The Lombax has no honor. He was disqualified from the tournament." shouted a third.

"Who's ever heard of a height requirement?" demanded a particularly large Agorian. "Those weaklings in the council merely refuse to acknowledge that a non-Agorian has won the gold tournament. If I were on the council, I'd ensure that such a disgrace never happens again."

As the Agorians argued and shoved each other, Alister climbed up the back of the nearest one and ran over the heads of others towards where Kaden was. A few of the crowd took swipes at him, but he was too fast and soon made it to his destination. His friend looked a mess. His armor's surface had more burns, rents, and patchy repairs on it than it had undamaged areas. As for the Lombax himself, he couldn't have looked happier.

Kaden sat up on wave of hands as if he were a king on a throne. His expression arrogantly announced that he completely believed that he deserved the acclaim that he was now receiving. Personally Alister knew that Kaden's feat of skill and power in the arena probably warranted even more than this, something like a large golden trophy maybe, but by this point in time Alister's reaction to the look on Kaden's face was now second nature.

"You are aware that you didn't actually win aren't you?" asked Alister over the noise of the Agorians in an attempt to bring down his friend's ego.

Kaden simply smirked at the comment, "Oh, I won." he said confidently. "I may not have a trophy, but I have what I came for." he added with thumb hiked over his back.

Alister simply shook his head, "We need to get out of here." he continued with a more serious tone.

Kaden nodded his agreement. He didn't really want to leave, but with half the Agorian crowd still trying to kill him and his armor and weapons in need of a serious recharge and repair, he knew it was time to go. With thoughts in tuned, both Lombaxes raised their swingshots to the wall above the entrance and fired.

The moment Kaden and Alister hit the floor, the Agorians who wanted Kaden dead turned to attack. The moment those Agorians turned their attention away from Kaden's new fans, they were jumped. The two factions of Agorians became a writhing pile of fists and head-butts. Kaden turned to admire the impressive melee and felt pride that it was technically in his honor, before Alister grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along.

* * *

Alister piloted the trillium harvester back into its docking area. Kaden had hacked the depot's equipment inventory so that no one would notice it was gone. In a short while, the digital inventory will be re-altered by a sleeper code to show the harvester back where it belonged.

"We're here." said Alister in a relieved tone, but he found that his friend was fast asleep. Alister nodded his head in understanding. He'd be exhausted too after a fight like that. It almost made him feel bad about what he was about to do, but tradition was tradition. "Nose, ears, or mouth?" he asked the sleeping Lombax quietly.

Kaden didn't awaken, but instead, leaned his head back and opened his mouth wide in rhythm with a loud snore. Alister grinned as he got his answer. He looked around the harvester cab for anything that would make a great photo-op. The best thing he could find that wouldn't kill someone was a leftover sandwich. He shrugged and thought, '_It will have to do.', _before raising the object high over his friend's open mouth. He activated his NID's eye capture device and was lining up the perfect angle for the shot when he saw the shadow of Lombax watching him from the dock's control center.

Alister heart stopped as his grip on the sandwich released. Kaden stirred from the impact of the sandwich, but was brought fully awake when he was tackled onto the floor of the cab.

"What's going on?!" he demanded as consciousness returned to him in fits and starts.

Alister quickly covered Kaden's mouth, "Shhhhh! someone saw us." he hissed in Kaden's ear with worry in his voice.

"What? Who?" Kaden asked, fully awake now.

"I don't know." Alister answered with panic creeping into his tone. "Kaden, I can't get caught stealing my dad's equipment. He'll kill me and hang my tail up as a warning to everyone else!"

"Ok, ok. Just calm down." soothed Kaden. "With any luck, they didn't get a good look at our faces. What were you doing when you saw them?"

"I was about to shove a sandwich in your mouth and take a holo-pic of it." Alister answered without any thought for what he just said.

Kaden paused a moment before continuing, "Whatever, we have to get out of here. We'll fly the harvester back out of the hanger and ditch it somewhere safe. We can sneak back in on foot and when security thinks the thieves got away in the harvester, I'll hack the inventory again and return it."

"Ok." whispered Alister sounding a little calmer. Just as they were about to enact their plan however, the harvester shook with the force of an impact from the outside. "What was that?" Alister asked as the terror returned to him.

Kaden knew right away that it was likely a cargo crane being dropped right on top of the harvester. They weren't going anywhere now. There was an attention grabbing tone as the equipment dock speakers powered on.

"Kaden, I know you're in there." echoed a familiar voice. "Only you are dumb enough to steel a trillium harvester and go for a joyride. Come meet me at the dock entrance. If you run, I will punish you later." The tone cut out and Kaden sighed sadly. He was about to get up when the tone restarted and the voice returned, "And on the off chance that you get away, I'll punish my son anyway just to be sure. I'm sure he's done something to deserve it."

"Oh man!" said Alister on verge of freaking out.

"Calm down." Kaden commanded. "He only said my name, so he probably doesn't know you're here. Only I have to get caught, it was my idea after all." Alister didn't say anything, he simply nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm going to slip out of my armor so my dad doesn't know where we went. When the coast is clear grab the gear and get out before anyone else comes around ok?" Again Alister simply nodded. Kaden knew that his friend was feeling guilty about letting him take the full blame, but Kaden also knew that getting caught meant much more to Alister than to him.

It only took him a few minutes to strip off the armor since he'd already removed most of the damaged pieces (which was most of it). Kaden stood up and moved to the exit. He stopped just before opening the door and turned back to Alister.

"Hey, I'm sorry about making you do this with me." Kaden apologized solemnly.

Alister calmed down and laughed lightly, "Don't worry about it. It was a great show." The two friends grinned and clasped forearms, before Kaden opened the door to face his fate.

* * *

Kaden's father stood waiting for him, silhouetted in entrance to the docking bay. He stood there calmly with his arms folded and waited for his son to reach arm's length before speaking.

"I can't really say I'm surprised Kaden." Cerdas began as he looked down at his son. "I know you're at 'that' age, but this is too much."

Kaden lowered his head sadly, "I'm sorry I took the harvester. I just wanted go for a ride around the comet on my own."

Cerdas shook his head in disappointment and sighed, "You know that's not what I'm upset about." he said sadly.

"I don't kno..." before Kaden could finish his sentence, his father reached out with the speed of striking snake and gripped his right shoulder tightly. Kaden winced as pain shot across his nerves again.

"Nanotech has a nasty habit of putting the nerves back together wrong." said Kaden's father with a stern look. "The body parts it repairs tend to be very sensitive. The more sore the limb the worse the injury and that looks like it hurts pretty badly."

Kaden pulled his arm back from his father and rubbed the shoulder gingerly, "How'd you know." he asked.

"I always knew about the Battleplex." answered Cerdas. "I didn't tell you because I knew this would happen and I was sure of where you went when my I.D. badge was gone."

Kaden looked surprised, "You mean you actually went to work after Suavis fruit pie day?"

"Of course I did." his father replied, slightly offended. "Your mother would tan my hide if I did that again."

Kaden continued to look surprised, "You mean you actually held yourself back on Suavis fruit pie day because mom told you to?"

"Ha!" exclaimed Cerdas proudly. "Who do you think you're talking too? Of course I didn't. 'More pie or die' is my motto. No, I got the mad doc to make me an experimental digestive medication, worked like a charm." Kaden nodded his appreciation of his father's plan. "Anyway Kaden you know I can't let you get away with this. Even if you are 'that age' I need you to understand how serious this is."

"You think a crazy horde of Agorians trying to kill me and the massive body trauma isn't enough?" Kaden asked.

Cerdas shook his head, "A skewering sword is probably the only thing that could get through that thick skull of yours and since I don't see any signs of a lobotomy, I think something a little different is necessary. For the next month, you're grounded."

Kaden was confused, "Grounded? How is that supposed to teach me a lesson?" he asked. He knew it was stupid to say since that would likely make it worse, but the punishment sounded so weak that he couldn't help himself.

His father grinned, "By grounded I mean you're stuck on the ground, as in no hoverboots."

Now it sounded bad to Kaden, "But then I can't go on scouting missions. What am I supposed to do for the Security Department now?" he demanded. His first thought was flying fighter ships on patrol missions, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

His father's grin turned slightly wicked, "Who says you can't go on scouting missions?"

"What, do you expect me to walk on my patrols?" asked Kaden in disbelief.

"No, I expect you to run." Cerdas said with a malicious glint in his eye. "I'll have to make some provisions with Bob about keeping your scouting locations close together, but you can't expect to accomplish half the work of everyone else and still get a good report can you?"

Kaden was stunned. The punishment sounded horrible, but he now had his own card to play, "If you make me do this, I'll tell mom you used dangerous, untested chemicals in order to gorge yourself on pie, which she told you to stop doing."

Now Cerdas was the one who looked surprised, "That medication was made by a highly trained, though admittedly evil, medical professional and even though she told me not to eat too much pie, it was because of how it affected my work that she was mad, so it shouldn't a problem." he retaliated.

Now Kaden grinned wickedly, "You really think mom's going to see it that way?"

Cerdas narrowed his eyes at his son darkly, but after a moment, his grin returned, "If you tell your mother, I'll tell Sorana that you not only stole from the company that hired you, but that you nearly got yourself killed by a bloodthirsty horde of Agorians and that you ended up killing who knows how many of them."

Now Kaden was back to being the stunned one, "But I returned the equipment in one piece and they're just Agorians, they're hatched from eggs in their dozens and are fully grown in two to four years. The Agorians themselves would probably be less upset about Agorians getting killed in battle than she would be."

Cerdas folded his arms and looked down at his son, "Do you really think Sorana's going to see it that way?"

Kaden looked down in defeat and his father laughed, but then stopped. Slowly the two Lombaxes turned their heads back to look each other in the eye. They held each other's gaze for a long moment as they saw a common connection between them. They embraced each other tightly. They hugged not only as a father and son, but as two Lombaxes who understood one another's pain.

"I love you son." Cerdas said warmly.

"I love you too dad." replied Kaden softly.

After a few seconds longer, they separated, both smiling brightly. Cerdas beamed down at his son, "I'll tell you what Kaden, you accept your punishment without complaint or trying to cheat it, and nobody else has to know about this besides you, me, and Alister." Kaden wasn't surprised when he heard Alister's name mentioned. He continued smiling as he nodded in agreement. "Come on, lets get you to the infirmary, I'm sure that shoulder isn't the only thing on you that needs some medical attention." Cerdas put his arm around his son's shoulders and the two of them started walking down the hallway together. "You know son," Cerdas began after a short distance, "I do have to say that I'm pretty impressed by how dedicated you were to getting away with this. You even dyed your fur blue to try and hide your identity."

Kaden stopped walking and looked up at his father in confusion. This made Cerdas stop as well, "Dad, I didn't dye my fur blue." said Kaden.

Cerdas stared at his son with an equally confused face, then he raised his own arm up to his eyes and examined it for a long time before calmly nodding, "Well son, it looks like we both have a reason to go to the infirmary now." he said with a smile. Then he turned his head and added under his breath, "Darn you pie."

* * *

Sorana landed face first into her bed with muffled thud, "How many fancy dinners and parties can one family go to in a row?" she complained through her blanket as her robotic maid cleaned up her discarded garments.

"You know your parents are just excited to show off their new Nova Academy daughter to all their friends and business associates." answered the maid. "It's all they've been talking about since you left."

Sorana had remained at Nova for the beginning half of her break period, but soon her parents' insisting finally got her to return home. Now she'd spent almost every day since, revisiting every member of her family, friends of the family and anyone her father wanted to brag to.

Sorana raised her head to look unhappily at her robotic servant, "I know that Cam, but why are they so obsessive? If this keeps up, I'll have to miss the first few days of the new semester."

Cam tossed the gathered clothing and shoes into a bin and began the task of choosing a set of sleepwear for the night, "Don't worry miss, I'm sure your instructors will give you some extra time off if your parents ask."

Sorana frowned slightly before rolling over on her bed and sitting up, "That's the problem." she grumbled sourly. "I wouldn't have to worry about it if I thought any of my instructors would lower my scores for missing class. Then mom and dad would have no choice but to let me go back."

In truth Sorana had chosen to stay at Nova during her break period because she thought Kaden would be staying as well (and by the sounds of it so did he). She had hoped that with classes slowing down she'd finally have more time to spend with her childhood friend. She also knew that if she were to return after the start of the semester, Kaden was likely to have become engrossed in another project of some kind.

"I know that face." Cam interjected suddenly. "That's your 'I miss the crazy, uncouth, demon Lombax face'."

"What?" replied Sorana, caught off guard. "How can you tell that just from a look?"

Cam stood up straight and proudly, "I have a new expression processor and I've been updating it with old holo-recordings of you." she explained. "Your lips are curled slightly more down than your usual 'I miss someone face' and your eyes are slightly more narrow than your 'I'd like some pudding face'."

Sorana stared blankly for a moment before changing the subject, "You can't still be mad at Kaden can you?" she asked curiously.

Cam folded her arms and gave Sorana a stern look, "Being reprogrammed to do the chicken dance and shout 'Pickles' whenever someone says my name is not something that I can forgive. The very accessing of that memory file triggers my embarrassment emulator to its maximum level."

"Oh, he was just trying to cheer me up when I was sick." Sorana defended. After a moment though, she had to fight back laughter as she recalled the memory from when she was a kid. "You should just let him erase the memory of it anyway. It'd be like it never happened."

"Hmph, that little miscreant is never getting near my circuits again." answered Cam angrily.

Still smiling, Sorana turned her head to her side and said under her breath, "You didn't mind the last time he did it."

Cam's robotic eyes turned blue, an indication of sadness or worry, "You mean he's done it before?" she cried.

"It was just a joke Cam." said Sorana quickly.

Cam looked about to say something else, but Sorana suddenly felt an artificial tingling from her NID that meant she was receiving a transmission. She breathed a sigh of relief as the nearest holo-monitor rang a moment later and silenced any further conversation with her servant. She then walked over to it and opened the incoming transmission notification.

"Oh!" exclaimed Cam the moment she saw the identification portrait of the caller. Her eyes shifted from blue to orange and her hands exploded into various grooming devices. "At least this suitor's attractive."

Sorana's eyes widened when she saw what Cam was about to do, "No, Cam, it's not like...that hurts don't...I just got all that stuff off..."

* * *

"Hello President Adjunaris." Sorana said pleasantly to the image of the white furred Lombax on the holo-monitor. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Miss Bellit, I've told you before, please to call me Varick." replied the figure. "These aren't formal calls after all." Sorana leaned back in her chair.

"No?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. "Then why is it that every time you call it feels like a business meeting?"

Varick shrugged and smiled back disarmingly, "For me, my business is my pleasure."

"A pleasure for you maybe," Sorana replied with her own smile, "but not for everyone."

"Do you dislike our conversations that much?" said Varick with hurt in his voice. Sorana shook her head,

"I was talking about Kaden actually, though I do dislike helping you manipulate him." Sorana explained coldly. Varick's smile returned,

"You know very well that my only goal is to ensure Kaden reaches his utmost potential as a Lombax. This is a goal I believe we both share, correct?"

"Hmmmm." intoned Sorana suspiciously.

"Besides," Varick continued unhindered, "isn't our deal mutually beneficial? All the chef bots in the Science Field sneak healthy alternatives into anything Kaden eats while you get detailed reports of his grades and daily activities at Nova." Sorana didn't respond immediately, she simply tapped her fingers for a few seconds as she chose her words.

"Not to complain, but don't you think the amount of information you give me on Kaden is a bit too..."

"Detailed, quality, impressive?" suggested Varick with self-satisfaction.

"Detailed yes, but I was going to say something more like intrusive or creepy." replied Sorana. Varick laughed good naturedly,

"I am the President of the Science Field." he explained. "I don't hold this position because I do things half-way." Sorana nodded once in acknowledgement before replying,

"As much as I appreciate your attention to detail, I think that even the most child doting parents on Fastoon would think that this was too much like stalking." she insisted.

Varick's expression suddenly soured and his eyes looked somewhere off screen, "Not the most doting parents, no." he said bitterly. Sorana was taken aback by the new demeanor of the perpetually smiling Lombax. Varick appeared to suddenly notice Sorana's expression, "Ehem...excuse me." he said as he cleared his throat. "Where were we? Ah yes...maybe it would be too much for 'some' parents, but we're talking about a love much deeper than just the of a parent's, aren't we?" Varick's words immediately erased Sorana's curiosity. She growled in annoyance.

"I should really introduce you to my roommate. You two have a common bad habit of making inferences about other people's lives." she said. Varick picked up a digi-pad and nodded sagely as he read it,

"Yes, Clarissa Eros, an aspiring novelist with a specialty for romances."

Sorana shook her head in bewilderment, "And it's that kind of thing that I dislike most of all." she said angrily. Varick entered a few things on the digi-pad and nodded sagely again,

"Yes, I see here where it says that on your file." Varick looked up from the pad with a big grin on his face. Sorana simply stared back at him. Varick then leaned forward on the monitor, "That was a joke." he explained.

"Ha, ha." replied Sorana sarcastically. "Now what is your real reason for calling, Varick?"

Varick's attitude quickly changed to a formal one. "The academy break period is almost over and you're to return to the academy soon, correct?"

"I was planning on coming back soon, but my parents might make me stay longer." Sorana responded.

"That was a rhetorical question my dear, of course I already know." Varick said with a grin.

"The joke isn't funnier the second time you know." replied Sorana disapprovingly.

"It wasn't a joke the second time." Varick said with complete seriousness. He then continued before Sorana could reply, "There's been a new development at Nova just recently and I'd like you to be the one to tell Kaden about it."

"And what would that be?" asked Sorana with interest.

"It seems that there's going to be a slight problem with Kaden's current source of motivation." Varick began. "As of the start of the new semester, Kor Vol'terran will be promoted to level three."

"Level three?" repeated Sorana in surprise. "I was told that going up two levels in your first year at Nova only happens to once in every decade."

"Actually the ratio is more like every three decades, but Nova rounds down to try and encourage students more. Either way, Kor has definitely proven himself worthy of the rank. His prowess in Capture the Depot alone has embarrassed all of his upperclassmen."

"Capture the depot?" Sorana asked when she heard the unfamiliar name.

"Oh, I'm sorry." apologized Varick before explaining. "Capture the Depot is a combat sport that the Military Academy hosts. Teams of five students battle both each other and an army of Nova Academy combat drones. They do this while attempting to capture three nodes placed throughout the facility. The first team to capture two nodes or eliminate all of the opposing team members, wins."

"I see." said Sorana.

"Anyway," Varick continued, "besides Kor's impressive record as an add-on player for the sport, the officials in charge at Nova also feared a repeat of last semester's opening tournament. His wrench may only be classified as class three lethal, but the truth is he nearly killed several students with just a single swing. Part of the reason for promoting him now is so that the hype of him participating again couldn't get the chance build up."

"Kaden won't be happy about that." she replied thoughtfully. "If he doesn't get a chance to settle things soon, he might even challenge Kor directly."

"Yes, of that I have no doubt." agreed Varick. "Luckily, I have a plan. Sometime after you return, Kaden will likely invite you to a lab that only Science Field students have access to. When your there, I want you to mention what I've told you about Kor to Kaden in front of his instructor. She's likely to be there when you visit and I think she can be of some help to Kaden if she knows his intentions. Also, please try not to mention my name. You know how Kaden gets if he thinks he's being manipulated."

"And for good reason." scoffed Sorana as she folded her arms. "I've told you that I don't like manipulating people like this."

"That's a good one coming from a politician's daughter." Varick muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" demanded Sorana angrily.

Varick simply shrugged, "It is up to you if you want to tell him or not. I'm trying to keep my hands as far from this situation as possible for various reasons, but if you don't want to, then I will, though I'm sure you'd rather be the one holding the reins. Am I right?"

Sorana shook her head, "How do you know he'll even invite me? I don't know when I'll get back to Nova. He's likely to get involved in some kind of project and will probably be too busy to even see me."

Varick simply smiled at her with his usual expression that said he knew something that no one else did, "Contrary to what people might think Sorana, truly brilliant Lombaxes often behave the most predictably. You can be assured that they will always take the path that is the best choice for them to make. Now, can I count on you for this?"

Sorana thought about everything Varick had said so far carefully for a while until finally, she nodded her agreement.


	23. Synaptic Park

Sorana arrived at Nova Academy by using the tele-transit system. She personally didn't like teleporter travel very much. The feeling of being disintegrated then reintegrated always bothered her. Even though the feeling lasted less than a second to the traveler (since you don't feel anything when you technically don't exist), it was the idea of it that didn't sit well with her. Every time she mentioned it to Kaden, he would always begin to explain science behind how a teleporter worked, as if hearing it 'again' would make them suddenly seem more tolerable her.

Despite her feeling, she had used the teleporters this time because she needed to get to Nova quickly. Just as Varick had predicted, Kaden had contacted her and wanted to know if she could come see a project that he was working on. She hadn't actually told him that she was still stuck at her parent's house, but had agreed to come without much thought. She actually had planned to leave in another day or so and spend most of that day traveling in a sky-car. Instead she told her parents that she needed to return to school immediately, to which they were surprisingly fine with, and set out that morning.

Sorana proceeded through academy security easily, since she didn't have much luggage with her. She then quickly made her way back to the Art Field to drop it off in her room. She waved her hand over the door's access panel and it beeped once in conformation. The door slid open smoothly and as if someone had unlatched a floodgate, the sound of loud music hit her with the force of a rolling tidal wave and rocked her eardrums violently.

Sorana pushed her way into the room through the buffeting sound waves and then shut the door behind her, so as not to bother the other residents. She tried yelling to the brown furred Lombax in the corner of the room, but her small voice was drowned out before it even reached her own ears. Sorana pushed onward, dropping her bag and pulling her ears down to protect against the noise. Eventually she reached the sonic generator controls and hit the power switch with her elbow.

The ocean of noise evaporated in a flash and a rushing silence came in to fill the void. Sorana breathed out in relief as the Lombax in the corner looked up from the sheets of paper she'd been scribbling on and started looking around in confusion. She then reached up and pulled two large wads of paper out of her ears and before turning around and spotting an irritated looking, white furred Lombax with the air of teacher about to scold a misbehaving child.

"Claire, how many times have I told you not to listen to your music so loudl..."

"Sorana!" exclaimed Claire as she pounced off her seat and tackling Sorana onto the bed behind her. "I've missed you!" Claire exclaimed as she hugged her friend tightly and buried her face in Sorana's chest.

"I've...missed you too." gasped Sorana as she tried to regain the air that had just been knocked out of her. "Why...do you insist...on behaving like this?" she asked, still wrapped tightly in Claire's bear hug.

Claire looked up with a smile, "I just missed this scent is all." she replied innocently before burying her head again and taking a deep breath. Suddenly she stopped moving as Sorana felt the muscles in Claire's body stiffen. The brown Lombax looked up again, but this time her expression were full of intrigue. Claire got up on her knees and looked down over Sorana on the bed. "Sorana," she began to question suspiciously, "are you wearing Harum Redola perfume?"

"Uh...well yes, but..." Sorana began to answer, but Claire put up her hand to silence her.

Claire then put her hand on her chin as she looked Sorana up and down, examining her carefully before smiling, "That's a nice outfit you're wearing, unusually casual for you, but still cute." Claire's grin widened and she leaned in closer, "Do you have a date tonight?"

"What?!" Sorana blurted in reply. "No it's not a date it's..." but she was cut off again as Claire gasped in surprise, putting her hands over her mouth in a display of complete shock.

"Nooooo!" she howled before closing her eyes and touching the back of her palm to her forehead dramatically. "Woe is me. Finally, I am reunited with my dearest friend Sorana, but it is only to find that she and her heart have been taken from me forever!" Claire paused and sighed sadly while letting her arms fall down to her sides. "Oh, well. As long I get to be the bride's maid. Aaaaaah..."

Sorana shoved Claire off the bed and onto the floor with one solid push. Her friend landed with a soft thud before rolling around and sitting up on the floor, beaming upward happily. Sorana sat up on the bed, folded her arms and looked back down at Claire with a calm expression.

"Are we done now?" she asked simply with no signs of irritation or annoyance. Claire continued just smiled up at her and nodded. "Good." continued Sorana. "So, why did you have the music turned up so loud and wads of paper in your ears?"

"I write better with the music playing, but it was too loud, so I made ear plugs from some scrap paper." Claire explained with a small hint of pride at her own ingenuity.

Sorana stared at her friend in disbelief, "Why didn't you just turn the music down?"

Claire returned Sorana's gaze, "Because I was in the writing zone, I couldn't just stop and get up to do something else."

Sorana shook her head in amazement, "I know you want to be a writer, but what kind of story could you be that obsessed about?"

Claire was suddenly excited again and jumped up from the floor. She moved quickly back to the corner where she'd been sitting earlier. She took a few seconds to gather up and sort through the dozens of sheets of paper before finally hurrying back with a stack of them.

"You're still using old fashioned paper?" Sorana asked as she was handed the stack.

"Yep." answered Claire brightly. "You know that my creative juices are flowing much better when I write by hand rather than typing or scribbling on a digi-pad. This is my latest story. I'm going to turn it in for one of my class projects and I think it's coming along really well. I'll bet I can even get some good sales at the Exchange." (the exchange is what the Art Field was calling their shopping district this semester)

Sorana looked over the title page. In big, handwritten letters it read: 'Beauty and Brilliance' and underneath was scribbled: 'by MBIII'.

MBIII was Claire's pen-name. Sorana knew that the letters stood for something, but Claire had refused to tell her what. She began reading through the summary page and the first few feature pages. The story itself was about a beautiful princess who falls in love with a royal scholar, but their love is forbidden and blah, blah sappy love stuff. As Sorana read, her expression darkened.

"Claire, tell me this isn't about me and Kaden." she said dryly.

Claire looked indignant, "Of course not." she answered with an insulted tone.

Sorana looked Claire straight in the eye, "The main characters' names are Soritha and Kadelith." she pointed out accusingly.

"Ummm..." Claire responded, her eyes shifting left and right as she looked for an excuse.

Sorana lowered the manuscript. It was beginning to get tiresome for her, how everyone she knew assumed that she and Kaden were in a relationship, as if a boy and girl couldn't simply be friends. She was surprised however, by how much seeing Claire's story irritated her. The very thought of various readers looking at a story and automatically believing that the character based on her had to be romantically tied to the character based on Kaden just because they were the main characters. It made her want to rip the pages in half.

Sorana let out a light sigh before standing up with the manuscript in her hands. She then walked over to the footlocker that she kept at the end of her bed. The storage case had been a gift from Kaden. Besides having anti-grav generators, it could only by opened with her exact genetic touch. Sorana gripped the handle tightly and lifted the lid with ease, before tossing the pages inside and shutting it.

"What are you doing?" demanded Claire as she ran for the trunk before trying futilely to open it again.

Sorana looked down at her friend sternly, "This is the very reason why I keep refusing to let you meet Kaden." she scolded. "I can put up with your crazed visions of reality, but I don't want you bothering him with them. Kaden and I are not a couple and we won't ever be a couple...Do you understand?"

Claire gave up on opening the chest before kneeling on the floor and hanging her head, "I understand." she echoed sadly.

"Good." said Sorana, before she turned and left the room.

The moment Sorana was gone, Claire's features cracked into a wide grin. She then leapt off the ground and hurried to her desk. Part of the reason that she wasn't sad about her story's lost pages was that Sorana had given her a pen last semester as a gift. The pen was designed to save everything she wrote down with it to a digital matrix, so that she'd never lose her work. However, the main reason for her elation was the sudden inspiration she'd gotten. Claire sat in her desk seat, pulled out a few blank pieces of paper, and started to write,

_It hurt Soritha deeply to scold her dearest friend, but she couldn't have anyone knowing of her hidden feelings for the handsome young scholar, not even her most beloved of companions. This very evening Soritha had received word of Kadelith's return to the castle. With it came a secret letter from the scholar himself, wishing to regale her with tales of his travels and of the knowledge he'd gained. Her heart quickened as did her pace as she headed for Field of Science to meet him..._

* * *

Sorana met Kaden in the Science Field common area. He had offered to wait for her in the Art Field, but Sorana knew how uncomfortable he was around its grounds. He was sitting down while quietly reading a digi-pad when she walked up to him. As was typical of Kaden, he was so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't even notice her arrival. Sorana smiled, this was the start of one of her favorite past times.

She leaned in close to Kaden's ear and said, "Hi Kaden!", slightly louder than necessary. Kaden jumped in surprise and Sorana watched with satisfaction as her friend's trained combat instincts to turn and face a sudden threat were tempered by his naturally calculating nature. Halfway through the reflexive move, his subconscious recognized her voice and he tried to stop himself. His body was first to respond, which left his arms with a slight lag behind it, causing him to smack himself in the face with his digi-pad. All of this happened in an instant, but Sorana could see it unfold with a well practiced eye.

"Hello Sorana." Kaden greeted dimly as he rubbed his nose. While it had always been his habit to focus intently on anything he did, it was Sorana's habit to scare the tail off him whenever she saw him do it. In Primary Education he'd gotten used to the ritual, but it had been such a long time since he'd last had to deal with it, that his reaction to it was back to its original, embarrassing level.

Sorana sat down in a chair across from him with barely hidden amusement, "So, what's on the schedule for today?" she asked cheerfully.

Kaden shook his head and stretched out his stiffened extremities before matching her smile, "We're going to visit Synaptic Park." he said casually.

Synaptic Park was a large research facility, built near the base of Mt. Super Nova, and housed most of the Biological research for the Science Field. All the Fields at Nova had privately allocated land for their own use. For example, the Military field had the Lotrin Forest, which it used to host its annual tournament and various other combat exorcises through out the year. Synaptic Park though, was something of a myth, to students of the Art Field in particular. While the Art Field itself had access to many beautiful areas and natural wonders for their own enjoyment (all of which Sorana had already visited), the park was rumored to contain genetic research projects like singing flowers, talking woodland creatures, and trees whose leaves changed color based on the feelings of the Lombaxes sitting in its shade.

Sorana knew that the facility's secret wonders were most likely being romanticized. For instance, the color changing tree was said to turn black if a person standing underneath of it was telling a lie. It was also said that if two Lombaxes stood under it at the same time and its color turned a deep red, it meant that the two destined to be together forever. How much of that was true didn't actually matter to Sorana, she was excited at the very thought of visiting a new area of the academy.

"When do we leave?" she asked enthusiastically.

Kaden shrugged and took another look at his digi-pad, "There's a supply transport leaving in a little bit. We can catch it if leave now."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sorana asked rhetorically.

The two friends stood up and she followed Kaden deeper into the Science Field. They went to a grav-lift station inside before riding a lift all the way to the bottom of the mountain. As Sorana exited the lift chamber, she found herself in a Science Field tram station. The academy used several tram networks to ferry supplies and people around its vast grounds. The two of them probably could have just taken a teleporter straight to the park, but Sorana was pretty sure Kaden hadn't gone that way because of her dislike for teleportation.

* * *

The tram sped along its single rail while Sorana took note of the geological features from the window. She had studied almost all of the area around the mountain that she could, but there were several areas that she didn't have access to. Synaptic Park was one of them. As the tram passed by land features that she recognized, she used them to calculate the location of the ones she'd never seen before. She was elated at the thought that her mental map of the academy would also include the almost secret location of Synaptic Park itself by the end of the trip.

As the tram crossed over the border of a forest and out onto a large valley, Sorana retook her seat. This was an area she had already visited many times and there was nothing new for several miles. She recalled having sat on the valley floor (which was open to all Fields) and curiously watching the Science Field trams go by, always wondering what secret location they were heading to just beyond her access. Kaden was sitting across from her with his eyes perpetually glued to his digi-pad.

"What is so much more interesting on that pad than your oldest friend?" asked Sorana with mock hurt in her voice.

Kaden simply smiled and began taping out several commands on his pad, "Says the person who spent the last ten minutes with her face bolted to the window." he retorted. "I'm just double checking a few things for the project we'll be working on when we arrive at the park."

Sorana was intrigued. It was rare that Kaden ever asked for help, "So after all this time you just want to use me as free labor?" she teased. "What makes you think I'll even want to help with the project?"

Kaden smiled, put down his digi-pad, and met her eyes, "Oh, I'm sure you'll be interested." he replied cryptically.

Sorana accepted his answer. In her experience, Kaden's surprises were only problematic if he said that he was looking forward to them as well. She decided try a different subject, "So Kaden...do anything idiotically dangerous over the break?" she asked bluntly.

Kaden caught his breath in his throat and broke eye contact, "Of course not." he answered unconvincingly. "It was just a simple job for Mr. Azimuth, really boring actually."

_'That was a yes', _thought Sorana as she watched Kaden nervously play with his thumbs. She had always thought it odd that despite Kaden's brilliance, he was such a terrible liar. It wasn't like she was mad though. She'd actually be more concerned if he hadn't done something rebellious and/or incredibly dangerous.

Still, she couldn't just let him get away with it, "Hmmmm?" she pressed, looking him straight in the eye and forcing him to fidget uncomfortably.

Kaden racked his mind for something he could change the subject with, "Did you ever give that pen to your roommate?" he asked desperately. Sorana leaned back and her brow creased as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. Kaden saw her confusion and his opportunity, "You know...that pen you asked me to make. The one that copies whatever it writes onto a digital memory circuit?"

"Oh!" said Sorana with realization. "Oh." said Sorana sourly with realization. "Yes, I gave it to her."

"What's wrong?" Kaden asked at her strange reaction.

Sorana shook her head, "It's nothing...I just remembered that I have something to do later. No, Claire loves the pen, which is great because I can't tell you how many times she's accidentally ruined a stack of manuscripts and then crawled around the floor of our room spouting gloomy reasons why life isn't worth living."

"She sounds like a fun one." Kaden commented with interest. "When do I get to meet her?"

"No." Sorana stated flatly, but then recognized how cold it probably sounded. "I mean...she's really embarrassing sometimes and not very easy to handle."

Kaden shrugged and leaned back in his seat, "I introduced you to Alister and I thought that was pretty embarrassing."

"Oh no," said Sorana with a smile, "Claire is much worse. Maybe one day I'll introduce you, but not until she promises to calm down."

A short tone resonated from the tram's speakers, indicating that the transport would be arriving at Synaptic Park soon. The transport slowed down rapidly as it approached the park's station. The park itself was a sprawling complex, but most of it seemed to consist of several bulb-like buildings. They were attached to each other through above-ground tunnels and spread out over a huge swath of land. In each of the areas sectioned off by the buildings and tunnels there were various different kinds of environments. Some had very tall trees and some had nothing more than grass. Some had ponds or streams or were nothing but water. One even had a sandy dessert environment with a clear, protective lid over it.

As Kaden took Sorana through security and into the research facility, she walked passed many different lab entrances. They looked plain, but their names were intriguing. Kaden had explained that he only had access to the lab they were going to and that he couldn't show her any of the others yet. For now she simply had to contend with wondering what was behind doors with names like 'Tree of Knowledge', 'Spider-monkeys', and 'Fountain of Youth' written on them. She would sometimes ask about one and Kaden would explain what it was if he could.

"What's...'The Hypno Toad'?" she asked after reading another lab label.

Kaden stopped walking suddenly and looked straight ahead with wide, blank eyes, "The Hypno Toad is the greatest creature to exist in the galaxy." he began in monotone. "All hail the Hypno Toad."

Sorana gripped his arm with concern, "Kaden, are you all right?" she asked fearfully.

Kaden looked down at her with a half grin and calming hand on hers, "Sorry." he laughed. "It's a force of habit. Doing that is a kind of inside joke around here." Eventually Sorana nodded her acceptance and the two continued deeper into the facility.

They passed several other students on their journey through the halls and some of younger ones were giving Kaden strange looks. Sorana immediately assumed that Kaden had done something to annoy them. Kaden didn't seem to take notice or care, but to Sorana it seemed like many of the looks were of jealousy. There was a very brief moment when she wondered if they could be jealous of Kaden because he was walking with her. Just as quickly as it came, she dismissed the thought as ridiculous. Besides the fact that she was sure Kaden was responsible for the dirty looks himself, the idea also brought back the unwelcomed memory of the romance novel Claire had written.

It wasn't like Sorana had never thought about the possibility before, but every time she did it always came down the same thing. No matter what her feelings might be, Kaden just didn't seem to be interested in romance. She hated to agree with Varick, but it was true that Kaden's actions were much more predictable than most. She knew that most of what went through his head followed a strict guideline. If it didn't involve figuring something out, blowing something up, or eating, then it probably wasn't in there. This, she realized was probably why he was so bad a lying. He just never gave any thought to whether what he did would need explanation.

Still, these musing reminded Sorana of something that she had to ask about...for the sake of all the students in the Art Field, "Kaden?" she began as they continued to walk. "Is it true that there's a tree here that can read a person's emotions?"

"Ah, 'The Tree of True Love'." Kaden answered without hesitation, followed by a small smirk.

Sorana had honestly not expected the rumor of the tree to be true and was caught off guard with the revelation that it actually existed, "So there really is a tree that tells you when two people are in love?" Sorana asked with sudden interest.

Kaden nodded, "Yep, one of the students designed it a long time ago to find out if his girlfriend was actually in love with him. It was supposed to be romantic, since he was sure that she did, but it turned out that she was only after him for his invention royalties." Kaden explained as his smirk slowly turned into a grin. "He went nuts and destroyed all the research data he'd done to create the tree and now no one knows how to grow another."

"That's such a sad story." said Sorana with sad surprise.

Kaden nodded his agreement, "It really is. He ruined over ten years of academy flora research in the process." he said as he shook his head in amazement. "I can't imagine what could possibly make a person loose it like that."

"I bet you can't." Sorana muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" asked Kaden.

"Nothing. So how does the tree work? Did the scientist destroy it too?"

"No, he was stopped before he could reach the tree, though I heard he cut several Nova guard bots in half with experimental mono-molecular saw he stole. Anyway, the tree is really sensitive to the brainwaves organic creatures emit, specifically the ones made by Lombaxes. Its leaves are supposed to turn dark read when two Lombaxes in love were under it at the same time. Supposedly the tree only works if someone is absolutely and completely in love with the other person...and not that overly-hormonal, month long kind of love either. It has to be real...or so I'm told. We only have the one tree now, but no one is willing to study it."

"Why's that?" Sorana asked curiously.

"Because one time two students were working together and they both ended up underneath it at the same time. Its leaves turned a reddish gold, which is the 'unrequited love' color, and the two of them couldn't stay friends after that." Kaden explained.

"It seems like the tree causes more pain than happiness." reflected Sorana.

Kaden shrugged, "Sometimes the truth hurts." he quoted as they both continued down the hall.

* * *

Sorana and Kaden arrived at their destination. It was another simple looking lab with the label "Lombax Origins" on it. Kaden waved his hand across the access pad and a wide beam of light, emitted from the ceiling, scanned both him and Sorana. The door slid open to reveal a small laboratory with dozens of holo-monitors and tons of beakers and vials spread around. Many of the clear containers had strange looking liquids in them. There was also a large observatory window to the far side that must have looked out onto the lab's allocated outdoor space.

"Oh come on!" Kaden growled angrily the moment he saw the room. He shook his head a few times before going around and picking up various chemical containers. "This lab isn't used for important research." He explained as he cleaned. "It's for Fuzzies to get the feel of lab procedures and the experimental process. Since it's not in use most of the year, the instructor who oversees it uses it like she owns it."

Sorana remembered, somewhat bitterly, that she had a task to accomplish for Varick, "What's this instructor like?" she asked, wondering if she'd get the chance to mention Kor while the instructor was present. She had already decided that she would tell Kaden about it, even if the instructor didn't show up.

Kaden stopped his work and thought for a bit, "If I had to describe her with one phrase...it would be 'out of it'." he offered thoughtfully. "She doesn't particularly care about her students, which I prefer since it gives me more freedom, but it also means I occasionally find a lab in shambles...even though I specifically told her that I'd be in here today." he finished with an irritated tone.

"Sounds like and fun one." said Sorana, quoting Kaden's words from earlier.

Kaden smiled as he put away the final beaker and clapped the dust off his hands, "She's not all bad actually. She's definitely a better bio-engineer than me." he said admiringly. Sorana was surprised to hear Kaden admit that anyone was better than him at anything. She was bothered by how strange it felt and was going to mention it, but he turned to her and added, "For now at least." with an almost evil half-grin.

Sorana breathed a sigh of relief, though she didn't really know what she'd been concerned about in the first place, "So what about this project?" she asked, now that the lab looked ready to use. "Just what about this tiny, messy lab do you think I'll find so interesting?"

Kaden walked across the lab floor with a knowing expression on his face. He stopped at the large, dark window on the far side and began tapping on the holo-controls below it. Lines of light appeared across the window's surface and they slowly grew until the electro-shades were full opened.

"Come take a look." he beckoned from where he stood.

Slowly, Sorana began walking toward the now crystal clear barrier. From where she was, she could see a few small trees through it. When she was close enough to see the whole allotment, she looked down and saw what it contained. The sight made her heart race.


	24. Mirror Mirror

Puppies and kittens! Over a dozen of the young, tiny creatures played energetically throughout the small enclosure. Sorana pressed her face to the glass of the observation window as she watched them fixedly. The enclosure was only a few meters wide with a few small trees and a grass covered floor. The puppies were all playing energetically with a couple of the kittens and various small toys. The rest of the kittens watched from a distance, seemingly interested but cautious to join.

Kaden watched with a satisfied smile as Sorana regressed into a childlike state. Her nose was pressed flat against the glass and her breath was causing it to fog up. Her eyes twitched wildly with excitement and her eyes were open wide as they followed the playful movements of the lab's inhabitants. She didn't say a word, so Kaden began to explain,

"The origins of the Lombax race aren't fully understood." he began. "We can trace our genetic linage back to two entirely separate evolutionary species. Though cats and dogs share similar traits to each other as well, we have yet to find any evidence of a period when these two species could have coincided genetically to evolve into Lombaxes." Kaden stopped there because he was fairly certain that Sorana wasn't listening.

As she watched, with intense focus, a black furred and yellow furred puppy wrestle each other innocently, she recalled having wanted one when she was a child. She had read about and seen images of the playful animals that were sometimes kept as pets, but the first time that she actually got to play with one was when Kaden had snuck it into their school. Of course, pets weren't allowed inside the school building and this one had been stolen from somewhere, but that wasn't important. What was important is how much Sorana had loved playing with the tiny creature, though she wasn't much bigger than it at the time. She had never managed to work up the courage to ask for one from her parents though, so she simply kept the desire bottled up.

"Hey Sorana?" asked Kaden, a little louder than the first two times.

Sorana broke from her daze at the sound of her name and stood up straight, suddenly very aware of how she'd just reacted. She quickly turned from Kaden and wiped the tiny bit of saliva from her lips before clearing her throat and turning back around. She addressed Kaden with a straightened posture and an air of dignity and formality, as if doing so could somehow erase her recent behavior.

"I certainly wasn't expecting a lab fully of puppies and kittens." she said with a very businesslike tone to a mildly smug looking Lombax.

Kaden raised an eyebrow and studied her silently for a short while, "Do you want to play with them?" he asked finally.

Sorana held the majority of her body in check, but couldn't prevent the nervous twitching of her ears that told Kaden she'd like nothing more. "I suppose," she began carefully, "but what's the objective? There has to be a reason for the Science Field to keep kittens and puppies here." She was now starting to become concerned for what type of experiment these adorable creatures might have in store for them.

"As I was saying," Kaden continued, "There are several groups of dogs and cats kept in the larger environments here at the park with minimal artificial care, so they're essentially wild animals. These young ones are just old enough to be taken from their parents for short periods of time. We want to see their social reactions to each other while they're still young and unaffected by their elders."

Sorana let out a small breath in relief when she was sure nothing bad was going to happen, "So then why do you need me?" she asked next.

"Well," Kaden explained, "the academy has done extensive research on experiments like this one, that's why this is a starter experiment for new students. That and nobody needs to touch anything dangerous or expensive. Anyway, I figured I'd try something a little different with my experiment: Testing the subjects' interaction with a Lombax."

Sorana looked at Kaden suspiciously, "So you mean the experiment is to just play with kittens and puppies? That just sounds like messing around."

Kaden wagged his finger at Sorana and shook his head with disappointment, "No Sorana...it's science!" he declared before a grin spread across his face.

Sorana shook her head with disapproval, but wasn't really bothered by it. Besides the fact that she was used to this kind of thing, the part of her that she'd been holding back for the past minute was resurging. Now that there was no reason for her not to go running into the small atrium and pick up an arm full of fluffy animals, Sorana could feel her inner child yelling to do so.

"So how do we begin?" she asked, taking great care to keep the eagerness from her voice.

Kaden picked up his digi-pad and tapped out a few commands, "First let's just observe them. Try to get to know each one. Then, when you're interacting, try to spend time with all of them one on one for a little bit. We can make stuff up from there...or can't you handle the wait?" he added as he took note of Sorana's distracted features.

Sorana pulled her thoughts into to sharp focus and mentally fortified herself, "I'm fine." she said indignantly. "They're just animals after all."

But just as she promised herself that she'd keep it together, a tan furred kitten with light brown stripes climbed up onto the windowsill of the observation window. Sorana moved closer to the window subconsciously as the Kitten studied the glass barrier curiously. It raised its paw high above its head and pressed it against the barrier experimentally. Sorana watched it intently until she heard a stifled laugh come from behind her. She turned to see what was so funny. She then followed Kaden's line of sight back to the window only to find that she had placed the tips of her fingers on the spot where the kitten had placed its paw subconsciously as if playing patty-cake.

Sorana stood up again, this time annoyed with her own inability to control herself. Inevitably, she turned her anger on the snickering Kaden (who was at least partially at fault), "I just couldn't help myself." she said sarcastically with a shrug. "It was just so little and cute...since it looks just like you." She then turned to watch the hit land as Kaden's face soured. She knew from experience, if she wanted to get to Kaden, go through his ego.

Kaden turned up his nose at the window, "It doesn't look anything like me." he denied grumpily. "Sure its fur is a similar color, but that's it." He then looked away from the window to focus on his digi-pad.

Sorana enjoyed the feeling of satisfaction at her small victory before turning back to watch the little tan furred kitten through the window. One of its ears flicked a few times in a lovable way, but a moment later Sorana saw Kaden's ear copy the movement. She smiled to herself at the funny coincidence as she watched the kitten reach up and scratch the ear that must have still been itching despite its attempts flick away the sensation. Sure enough, Kaden reached up to do the same to his own ear with his eyes still glued to his digi-pad.

Sorana bit back laughter at another great coincidence. Just as she was sure it couldn't get better, both Kaden and the kitten yawned simultaneously. To her, it was both adorable and hilarious. This time she couldn't help but let out a little giggle of laughter. Kaden looked up from his digi-pad to see what had caused the noise. By the time he did however, Sorana had already turned back to the window and the tan kitten was licking the back of its paw. After a few seconds he shrugged and returned to his digi-pad.

As soon as Sorana felt Kaden's eyes off her, she glanced back at him again. She found herself hopping to see what she knew was definitely not going to happen. That's the reason why she was more stunned than amused when Kaden paused from tapping on his digi-pad to study the back of his hand curiously. He then raised it to his nose, smelled it, and then licked it.

Sorana blinked a few times to make sure there wasn't something wrong with her eyes. The coincidence just seemed too weird, "Kaden?" she asked, breaking both the silence and Kaden's concentration. "Did you just lick your hand?"

Kaden looked up at her and furrowed his brow as he thought for a moment before faintly recalling having licked his hand subconsciously, "I guess." he replied casually. "It smelled like there was something on it from lunch. Why, what's the big deal?"

"Didn't you just handle a lot of strange chemicals?" Sorana answered with concern. "What if some of it was dangerous?"

Kaden laughed, "Don't worry about it. Even if my instructor's a little off, she's still a scientist. If there was anything dangerous in those containers, there would be a warning label."

Sorana took a step forward to address Kaden more seriously and as if scripted by an amateur novel writer, they both heard a soft crunch. Sorana lifted her foot and shifted her gaze downward to a small sticker with a picture of a skull and cross bones on it. She then looked back up at Kaden with her eyes wide. Kaden reached down and picked up the label. He continued to stare at the image as he clicked his tongue a few times to study the after taste in his mouth.

"Hey Sorana," he began calmly before he lifted his digi-pad and started tapping on it rapidly, "there's something else I have to go check on real quick. Would you mind staying here for a little while? I'll be back in...a bit." Sorana nodded slowly. "Great. Uh...so, don't go into the atrium until I get back and the emergency aid for Synaptic Park is any open NID frequency. Just turn it on and someone will pick." As Kaden spoke, he carefully moved toward the exit and just as he finished speaking, disappeared through it.

Sorana stared blankly at the closed lab entrance while standing there alone. She then took a deep breath and returned to the window. She had been through this kind of thing before; it was typical Kaden behavior after all. Sorana was so sure that one day his own idiotic actions would get him killed, that she was already mentally prepared for it. She knew she couldn't stop him from being himself completely, so she just had to endure it for now.

By the time Sorana had turned back to the window, the tan furred kitten was gone from the sill. She scanned the atrium for it and soon found it playing with a group of puppies. Most of the other kittens were keeping their distance from the rough playing puppies for the most part, but the tan furred one was in the mix of it. Fighting over toys and wrestling, it didn't seem like a kitten at all really. Sorana reflected on how being the one that went against the norm was just another way that it resembled Kaden.

A few minutes later the kitten began wandering around the atrium, apparently bored with its game. It went around to some of the other kittens and tried playing with them. Many of them hissed or swiped at it, which at first made Sorana feel bad for it, but later she realized the reason was that the tan furred kitten wasn't very friendly. It would constantly swipe toys from any creature that didn't guard them, only to play with it alone and get bored before moving on to the next one.

After failing to wrestle a chew toy away from one of the puppies, it began wandering around the atrium again until is spotted a pure white kitten on the opposite side of the enclosure at the base of one of the small trees. The white kitten was playing with a stuffed toy rodent and was chewing on of the toy's five eyes when it spotted the tan furred kitten coming its way.

Apparently knowing that the tan kitten was trouble, the white kitten reared up, with the toy in its mouth and stared down the tan one. The tan kitten simply kept coming though. It innocently padded its way towards the white furred kitten without any reaction to their hostility. Realizing that the tan kitten had no intention of backing off, the white kitten turned to the tree, bent its legs and back, and leaped up onto it before using its claws to scale its way to the lowest branch. Sorana was impressed. It seemed as though the branches had been pruned to prevent the creatures in the atrium from doing just that, but apparently not far enough the stop the white kitten.

The tan kitten reached the bottom of the tree and looked up at the white kitten. It meowed a few times, but the white kitten ignored it and returned to playing with the toy. The tan kitten ran at the tree and tried to climb it like the white one did, but each time was a failure that ended with the tan kitten on the ground.

Still imagining the tan furred kitten as Kaden, Sorana smiled to herself, thinking _'That's what you get for being such a trouble maker'_. As she watched however, the tan furred kitten refused to give up. After a while, it started making progress up the tree with each new attempt. A few more tries later and it reached the branch the white kitten was on. Immediately the tan kitten attempted to play with the white kitten, but it simply climbed the tree higher to the next branch.

Again the tan kitten chased the white kitten and made it up the tree with much fewer attempts this time. The white kitten became irritated and took a few swipes at the tan kitten. That tan kitten simply took the actions as a kind of game. It retaliated playfully, occasionally trying to steal the toy away from the white kitten. Eventually the white kitten climbed the tree higher still and yet again the tan kitten followed.

About halfway up the tree, the tan kitten finally managed to snag the small toy from the white kitten. It pulled back along the branch triumphantly with its prize, but the white kitten quickly reclaimed the prize before darting up the next branch. It sat there and meowed down at the tan kitten as if mocking it. Again the tan kitten chased and again the tan kitten stole the toy, but this time the tan kitten climbed to the next branch with it before the white kitten could reclaim it. The tan kitten then placed the toy down, just as the white kitten had, and meowed mockingly down the tree.

The two kittens continued their game as they traveled further up the tree. Sorana noticed something odd though. She noticed that the white kitten didn't seem to be annoyed anymore. In fact it almost looked like it was enjoying itself.

It wasn't long before the two kittens were almost to the top of the tree. The branches were getting smaller now and they swayed violently as the two kittens played. The white kitten was beginning to slow and take its time to test the branches carefully, but the tan kitten continued to move at full tilt with reckless abandon.

The tan kitten now had the toy. It ran up to the next branch, but it was clear that there were no more branches above it that could support the kitten's weight. The white kitten was slowly, but surely making its way up to the tan kitten's branch. The tan kitten looked around desperately for somewhere to go.

Just as the white kitten made it to the branch, the tan kitten bolted down its length and leaped onto another branch from a nearby tree. Sorana held her breath as the kitten landed, slipped, and just barely held onto the branch by its claws before pulling itself up and turning to face the white kitten. It then set the toy on the branch and sat down, waiting patiently for the white kitten to follow as always.

The white kitten however, was gingerly making its way to the end of the first branch. The branch shook and wobbled as the kitten tried to get closer, but eventually it stopped moving and simply held on tight. The white kitten meowed to the tan kitten. The tan kitten simply returned its gaze curiously. It meowed once in reply, but continued to sit there and wait for the white kitten. After a while the white kitten began to move along the branch again, but was soon overcome with fear and again stopped. It meowed once more, and once more the tan kitten meowed back without moving.

The enclosure wasn't sealed from the outside air and so a small butterfly came from over the walls and flew across the tan kitten's face. The kitten was immediately intrigued by the new thing. It swiped at the insect a few times before the butterfly began to flutter away. The kitten chased it playfully, but was stopped when the white kitten meowed again.

The tan kitten turned to look at the white kitten and was about to take a step back towards it when the butterfly crossed its face again. This time the tan kitten chased the butterfly with gusto. It jumped on the branch and swiped at the butterfly repeatedly, desperate to catch it. As the kitten moved, the branch shook and the toy rodent fell through the tree branches to the ground below.

The white kitten watched the toy fall, but ignored it. As the tan kitten chased the butterfly further away through the tree, the white kitten meowed again, but this time the tan kitten didn't seem to hear it. The white kitten meowed again and again, but each time its calls went unanswered.

Sorana could hear the white kittens cries through the observation window's speakers, which tracked the movement of any observer's and focused audio detectors to its location. To her, the kitten's cries sounded so sad and they resonated deep within her. Her chest and throat tightened and though she didn't fully understand why, she just felt extremely sorry for the white kitten.

The tan kitten had already chased the butterfly into a third tree and was moving up and down branches with amazing ease considering it couldn't even get up to a low one just a few minutes ago. With its cries unanswered, the white kitten once again attempted to reach the next branch over. Sorana pressed her hands to the window so hard that their circulation was being cut off as she watched the white kitten's desperate attempt to reach the tan one. The branch shook violently, but the white kitten pressed on. It reared back on its hind legs and prepared to get a running start for the leap across. Sorana held her breath as the white kitten charged down the branch's length...and nearly cried out when the branch snapped.

Sorana bit her lip as she watched kitten plummet from the tree. Halfway down, it turned itself in midair and hit the ground on its paws, but it then collapsed in a heap. Sorana continued to watch with bated breath as the kitten tried to pick itself up, but it stumbled again when it tried to put weight on one paw. Eventually it gave up and just laid down where it landed, unmoving.

Sorana was on the verge of hysteria. She looked around the lab desperately wondering what to do. She quickly found the entrance to atrium. Without even the slightest thought of Kaden's instructions not to enter on her mind, she reached for the door controls. She had to help that poor kitten, no matter what.

"What are you doing?" demanded a cold, irritated voice.

Sorana stopped her hand just centimeters from control panel. She turned around to find a tall, brown furred, female Lombax standing in the doorway. Sorana's first thoughts were of the Lombax's appearance. She had oddly colored stripes for example. Her head stripes were a solid red, but the rest of her stripes were all different colors. Some weren't even symmetric. Sorana had never seen a naturally occurring multi-striped fur coat before, so she assumed it must not have been natural. The other thing about the Lombax was how messy she seemed. Her hair looked unkempt, like its owner didn't even know it was there and her long, white lab coat was covered in stains, holes, and loose stitching.

"Who are you?" asked Sorana automatically.

The other Lombax raised an eyebrow, "The name's Varin and this is my lab." she answered darkly. "I got an alert that some idiot may have come into contact with a dangerous chemical in here and when I arrive, I find you inside."

"That must have been Kaden." replied Sorana with the realization that this person must be Kaden's instructor.

"I know, it had his name on it." Varin retorted, as if it should have been obvious that she'd already known. "Now, what are you doing in here?" she asked again.

Sorana suddenly remembered why she was about to open the containment unit, "A kitten, it fell from the tree!" she blurted frantically.

The expression on Varin's face changed, almost softening as she began moving toward Sorana, "Where?" she demanded once she reached the observation window.

Sorana pointed out the white kitten lying on the ground at the base of a tree. Varin quickly brought up a digital command pad, displayed on the observation window, and began taping through commands rapidly. As she did, Sorana turned her gaze back to the white kitten in time to witness something that played havoc with her already rapid heart rate.

The tan kitten was now standing over the white kitten, gently nudging it in an attempt to get it to rise. The white kitten looked up and meowed softly before resting its head again. The tan kitten continued its nudging persistently until the white kitten finally made another attempt to stand. Just like before however, when it tried to put weight on the same injured paw as before, it collapsed and laid still.

"See," Sorana said to Varin, "it's hurt. We need to help it."

The other Lombax just looked at the readings on the holo-screen, "It's not hurt." she replied a moment later with a shrug.

"What do you mean 'it's not hurt'?" repeated Sorana in confusion.

Varin indicated the holo-screen to Sorana. Sorana looked at it and found an outlined image of a kitten with several readings coming off it. Varin then pointed to the highlighted paw area.

"You can see here that the data log shows some mild trauma to its ankle recently." she explained. "At worst it has a mild sprain, but other than that it should be completely fine."

Sorana studied the reading carefully, "But it can't stand up." she insisted.

They both turned back to the two kittens; the tan one was now gently licking the injured paw of the white one in some instinctual attempt to help it.

Varin studied them carefully with her hand on her chin before finally shaking her head, "The leg might hurt a little, but there is no physical reason preventing it from getting up."

Sorana continued to watch the two kittens interact. The tan kitten clearly had no idea what to do to get the white one to rise. It looked around in search of an answer, but couldn't find any. Eventually the tan kitten simply laid down on the ground next to the white one. The white kitten opened one eye and looked down at the tan kitten curled up next to it, before closing its eye again and relaxing.

_'No way...'_ thought Sorana as she watched the white kitten cuddle up closer to the tan one.

"So I'll ask again," said Varin coldly with her previous demeanor back, "What are you doing here?"

Sorana turned to face her, "I was invited here," she answered honestly, "to help Kaden with his project."

"Help on the Lombax origins project?" Varin asked in disbelief. "Literally, the only purpose of this experiment is to give new level two students something so easy that they **can't** screw it up."

"So you mean there's no point to this?" asked Sorana.

Varin shrugged, "It's a learning exercise. Just practice really. Every so often you find someone who thinks they can solve the riddle of the Lombax missing link, but no new evidence has surfaced for years." She then smiled at Sorana oddly as she thought of something funny. "If you ask me, I'd say that Lombaxes were designed by some ancient, super-intelligent race to be adorable killing machines."

Sorana wore an expression of complete rejection for the idea, "Huh?" she replied without thinking.

"Think about it," Varin insisted. "Lombaxes have the reflexes and agility of a cat, the senses and instincts of a dog, and we're ranked top three in the galaxy's most cuddly sentient races. Without the missing link, the only explanation is that someone...or something constructed us to be cute, cuddly, and capable of mass destruction!"

Sorana shook her head, "What possible reason could someone have to do that."

Varin's grin broadened, she seemed extremely happy to have someone finally ask her that question, "Isn't it obvious?" she began with the air of conspiracy theorist. "It was all to build some kind of marketing franchise based on the Lombaxes that appeared kid friendly, but was actually filled with destruction and bloodshed. This way, they can sell products to fans at an extremely young age without arousing suspicion and thus tap an untouched demographic that is sure to retain their love for the games as they age. It's brilliant and it would take a truly brilliant person to figure out their plot!"

Before Sorana could even comprehend the level ridiculousness she'd just been exposed to, the entrance to the lab slid open and Kaden dashed in.

"Sorana," he declared alarmingly before stopping and pointing at Varin, "don't listen to this one's lies. It's all nonsense, everything you've heard since she entered the lab, erase if from your memory now."

Varin leaned her head back so she could look down on Kaden and crossed her arms, "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite new Fuzzy. I see you've brought a playmate to my lab. How'd you manage to pull that one off?"

Kaden mimicked Varin's gestures, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at her, "Believe it or not Varin, you're not the only person I know who can grant Synaptic Park access to other students. All I had to do was ask a favor."

Varin raised an eyebrow with interest, "Oh really? And who might this person be that would just do you a favor like this for nothing?"

Kaden hesitated for a moment, "That's not important." he answered dismissively, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "What is important, is this..." Kaden held up the skull and crossbones warning label from earlier to show Varin. "I walked all the way to the med-bay before I realized that if a material with this class of lethality was exposed to the air, the contamination detectors would have gone off and sealed this whole section of the park. So why do you have one in your lab?"

Varin reached over and took the label from Kaden with a small smile, "I started putting these on my lunch containers." she explained without a trace of shame. "That way I can keep it in the refrigeration unit down the hall."

Kaden's face was a picture of shock, "You mean the hazardous materials freezer?" he asked dumbfounded, "The one where they put the experiments too dangerous to be kept in the labs?!" Sorana listened to the exchange and mentally agreed with Kaden. The very idea of such an irrespon..."That's brilliant!" declared Kaden in sheer amazement. He turned to Sorana with wide gleeful eyes to explain, "Walking all the way to the food research sector is the only way to get anything decent to eat in Synaptic Park." He then turned back to Varin, "Do you mind if I use that too?" he asked, excitedly thinking about all the food he could store just a short walk from where he'd be working. Now Sorana's face was a picture of shock.

"Not at all." answered Varin proudly with a self-satisfied smile. "I just got a bunch of spare labels since I helped the Hazardous Waste supervisor with his fur thinning problem."

Sorana couldn't take it anymore, "Are you two crazy!" she exploded. Kaden and Varin were both caught off guard by it. "What happens if something fatal gets exposed to your food while it's stored in there? Then you're just going to eat it?" Both Kaden and Varin seemed to deflate at her outburst.

"She's right." said Varin dejectedly to Kaden. "I didn't think about that."

Kaden returned the sad look, then he suddenly perked up and snapped his fingers, "We steal a couple of 'High Risk' storage containers." he suggested.

Varin's eyes lit up, "Yes!" she agreed, just as excitedly. "They're completely hermetically sealed so there's no chance of contamination. We could even run them through the D-con (a decontamination device) without any problem."

"Plus," Kaden continued, "Nobody would ever look in them. Anything in a 'High Risk' container would frighten anyone away from sneaking a peak."

Varin smiled wide and beamed down at Kaden like a proud teacher, "That's my new favorite pupil. High-five!" she declared, throwing her palm flat into the air.

Kaden met her palm with his, "Food!" he declared happily as he did so.

"Food!" repeated Varin.

Sorana couldn't believe what she was witnessing, it was like looking into a mirror!


	25. Back in the Game

"We should get containers from the medical research division." suggested Varin. "The ones they use for organs are insulated as well as airtight. They can double as coolers when we need them." Kaden nodded his head in agreement gleefully.

As he and Varin discussed plans for various edible storage arrangements, Sorana watched from her seat at the far end of the lab in astonishment. It was so strange for her to see Kaden being friendly with someone other than Alister or herself. Especially someone he'd only gotten to know recently. Kaden had never been good at making friends in school. That was mostly because he was always in trouble and anyone who got involved with him usually got involved in some kind of horrible experiment. It wasn't until he blew up the school's new gymnasium in Secondary ed. that his fan clubs began to form, but that was more idol worship than serious attempts at friendship.

Even he and Alister didn't get along at first. In fact, Sorana was sure that they hated each other from the way Kaden first talked about the 'arrogant other kid' on Kreeli in a transmission. Sorana wasn't sure of the specifics, but somehow along the way they ended up being friends. That wasn't even too long ago either.

"Alright, it's settled." Kaden declared ceremoniously. "We get organ transport containers from Med., paint over the markings with anti-bacterial coating, and Thursdays are Bunsen burner burger day." Varin nodded her head in agreement gleefully. Kaden smiled and they shook hands on it, "But I still feel like I'm forgetting something." Kaden added as he searched his mind for the lost thought.

"Was it about your lab project?" Varin offered.

Kaden's eyes suddenly widened and he quickly turned to Sorana, who was sitting with her head resting on her arms on a desk. She stared at the two of them with glazed over eyes, "Sorana?" Kaden asked cautiously, afraid that forgetting about his friend had angered her.

Sorana broke from her daze at her name being called, "What?" she responded distractedly.

"Umm, Sorry about that." apologized Kaden while rubbing the back of his head guiltily. "We kind of got carried away for a moment."

Varin butted in, "It's no big deal." she asserted. "We had important Science Field business to discuss and it's not like she had to wait that long."

Sorana looked up with a mildly irritated expression on her face, "You two were talking for over half an hour!" she spat with a little more venom then she had intended.

Varin eyed Sorana suspiciously as if trying to discern something from her. Sorana returned the glare with practiced ease. The staring contest ticked on for a few seconds before Varin suddenly broke it, "Oh no!" she declared before turning to Kaden. "I left my assistant in charge of the lab before I came to see if you'd actually died!"

Kaden didn't flinch at the casual mention of his demise, "So, what's the big deal?" he inquired.

There was a barely noticeable tremor that vibrated through the floor of the lab, right on cue. Kaden and Sorana both felt it through their feet and studied the floor for a moment before simultaneously looking up at the panic etched expression on Varin's face.

A tone emanated from the lab's speaker system, "Varin, report to the Biological Explosives lab immediately." ordered a very irritated sounding voice. "Lorna got out of her cage again."

"Ooooohh." Varin whined before lowering her head and moving toward the door. "They'll never give me a fourth lab for this experiment."

Kaden and Sorana watched Varin leave before Kaden spoke, "See, I told you she was a bit out of it." he said with a smile.

Sorana glared back at him, "You're right." she replied sarcastically while staring Kaden right in the eye. "She acts like a complete fool."

"I think that might be a bit harsh." said Kaden, completely missing Sorana's insinuations. He shrugged, "Let's just get back to the experiment."

Sorana's expression softened a little bit as Kaden turned and headed for the entrance to atrium. She knew why she was mad, Kaden had invited her to hang out and then completely forgot that she was even in the room, but she wasn't sure if she should be as mad as she was acting. It felt right at least. The downside was that her mood was probably going to prevent her from enjoying playing with the young animals.

She was wrong. Kaden had opened the door to let Sorana into the Atrium. The moment she was past the threshold, every creature turned to her with immediate interest and excitement. All the puppies ran full tilt to get a smell of her and she fought hard not to giggle as she felt them climbing up her legs and rubbing their noses in her fur. Most of the kittens began to make their way over to her as well, though with more care and caution than the puppies.

Sorana moved carefully over to an artificial log in the middle of the atrium and sat down on it. She selected the closest puppy to her and lifted it high into the air to get a good look at it face to face.

"Hello." she said in a friendly manner.

The puppy wagged its tail happily as Sorana held it up. The moment she had moved it close enough, it didn't hesitate to take a big slobbery lick of her face. She laughed good naturedly and lowered the puppy back down before whipping the saliva off of her cheek fur. She then cradled the pup in her arm and scratched its belly until its leg started kicking uncontrollably.

Kaden watched Sorana play with the animals. He of course, knew exactly how much Sorana had wanted a pet as a child and smiled to himself with the jovial feeling he always got when Sorana was actually happy about something that he'd done. He then noticed something odd; there were only two kittens in the atrium that hadn't yet made an attempt to see Sorana. A tan furred one that was sitting up and looking at her with intrigue while a white furred one was laid on the ground next to it.

Kaden reached over to the control panel and switched on the out-speakers, "Sorana, do you see those two kittens over there?" he asked. Sorana looked over to the observation window and then to where Kaden was pointing. "When the ones around you calm down, can you go and take a look at those two. They're acting abnormally." Sorana nodded to Kaden with the barest hint of a smile on her face.

Kaden flipped the communication switch back off and watched as Sorana played with the animals. The kittens were constantly trying to climb her limbs and clothing while the puppies would poke their noses into spots where she was ticklish and make her laugh. She would sometimes pick up a toy use it to entertain them, though it was clear that she was enjoying it as much as they were.

As many of the animals started to break off from the group around her and return to playing together, Sorana finally got the opportunity to interact with the tan and white kitten that she had been watching so intently earlier. She stopped just in front of the two kittens and kneeled down on the grass next to them. The white kitten eyed her suspiciously while the tan kitten looked up at her with longing and curiosity. She tried reaching for the tan kitten first and, not surprisingly, the white kitten wasn't happy about that. It hissed at Sorana's hand, which she then pulled back. She stayed still, patiently for the kitten to calm down.

Next Sorana tried petting the white kitten and after several attempts, it did eventually let her pet it. While Sorana was petting the white kitten, the tan kitten saw its opportunity and leapt onto her other hand that she'd been using to supporter herself. Sorana stopped petting the white kitten and turned her other hand over. The tan kitten sat on her palm while looking around curiously. That white kitten sat up suddenly when it saw.

Sorana tried to raise the up tan kitten, but the white kitten put its paw on her hand as if to stop her. Sorana waited a little while and tried to lift the tan kitten again. The white kitten got up completely this time and put both its front paws on Sorana's hand. It meowed at the tan kitten, which made then made it meow back before it jumped down from Sorana's hand and sat next to white Kitten again. Sorana laughed at the kittens' antics.

"What's so funny?" asked Kaden over the atrium speakers.

Sorana turned to look at the observation window with a smile, "It's these two. They don't want to be separated. They're just so close to each other. It's like puppy love except it's kittens." she explained while laughing at her own (bad) joke.

Kaden rolled his eyes in the window, "I know they're cute and resemble Lombaxes slightly, but they're just animals Sorana. Don't go anthropomorphizing them." he laughed teasingly. "Besides, they're too young for that kind of attachment. At most they're just friends."

Sorana didn't respond at first and Kaden was about to say something else when an alert popped up on the window screen. It was showing heightened stress levels in many of the creatures. Kaden looked around and found most of the kittens were suddenly alert for danger and the puppies had their tales between their legs. None of them were playing. Even Sorana looked a little uneasy; her ears were flat and pointed back away from her head.

Kaden began urgently checking the temperature, the atmosphere readings, the light levels, but none of it offered any explanation, "Sorana, is everything ok in there?" Kaden asked bewildered and slightly concerned.

The white kitten had backed off slightly and was eyeing Sorana with extreme caution. The tan kitten on the other hand, appeared completely oblivious to Sorana's mood. Sorana glared down at the tan furred kitten staring up at her with its little tail swishing around mischievously.

"I know they're just friends." she muttered darkly.

Kaden hadn't been looking at Sorana when she spoke so the focused microphones didn't pick-up her words. Kaden realized that he'd missed something though and switched the speakers to 'all ambient'.

"Did you say something?" he asked.

The tan kitten happened to glance back at the white kitten. The moment the tan kitten saw that the white kitten was able to stand again, it pounced on it playfully before backing off and challenging it to try and pursue.

Sorana watched the two kittens race off before replying to Kaden's question, "I said, I know that they'll never be anything more than friends." she answered quietly.

"Well I wouldn't say that." countered Kaden pensively. "Sure they're young now, but they live in the same habitat, so they're very likely to still be in contact after they've matured. If they get along well now then they're more likely to be close when, uh, 'that time' comes. At least, that's my opinion."

Sorana paused for a moment before looking up at Kaden through the observation window with a very annoyed expression, "You know I hate when you do that." she said.

"Do what?" asked Kaden with genuine confusion and concern.

Sorana shook her head, "And I hate when you do that even more." she answered.

Kaden fought the urge to ask 'what' again. He knew that he'd done something wrong and his natural curiosity demanded that he find out, but his survival instincts told him not to. He turned off the comm. unit again and moved to a seat in the lab with a clear view through the window. He eventually decided that Sorana was just annoyed about having her statements being corrected repeatedly by him. He knew he had a habit of doing that.

* * *

Time seemed to pass surprisingly quickly as Kaden watched Sorana enjoy her time the small animals. Then Kaden realized that it had already been over two hours and chided himself when he realized that he had barely made any lab notes. Everything in the atrium was being recorded, so it wasn't completely necessary to take notes now, but he still needed to do a proper report or else Varin would fail him. He had figured that he'd just start making them up with randomly observed traits while Sorana played, but he was finding it oddly hard to focus.

Kaden stood up and went to the observation window before turning on the comm. system again, "Hey Sorana, I know you're enjoying yourself, but we've got less than an hour before we need to end the experiment and send the animals back to their habitat."

Sorana looked up at him while still holding a stick with a fuzzy object on the end of it. The tan kitten was clinging to it with its claws, "But we just got started." she protest like a child not ready for bed time.

Kaden shook his head, "Take a look around you. It's time to return them for the night."

Sorana looked around at all the kittens and puppies that she had been playing with and realized that most had fallen asleep, exhausted from their hyperactive games. Only the tan kitten was still energetic while the white kitten simply sat close to Sorana and watched. It was likely tired from playing with the tan kitten as well.

Eventually Sorana nodded her acceptance then smiled, "When this one falls asleep." she said before raising the toy and tan kitten up higher for emphasis.

"Alright, fine." consented Kaden with his own smile. He watched Sorana return gleefully to playing with the kitten. Though it was true that the tan kitten seemed to have limitless energy, judging from the other animals, it was likely to crash pretty soon.

A shadow creeped up from behind Kaden at that moment, "You'll be here a while." Varin whispered in his ear, causing him to jump in surprise. "That one is like the Vitalizer Tortoise, it just doesn't stop." she added with a shake of her head.

Kaden calmed down quickly and turned away from the window to hide his reaction, "You got back fast for someone who blew up a whole lab…again."

Varin shrugged with no signs of shame, "It's not like I have to clean up the mess." she explained before following Kaden to the desk where he left his digi-pad.

"So what is Lorna anyway?" Kaden asked as he sat down and began making the request for Animal Care to come down and pick-up the kittens and puppies, "some kind of bio-bomb spitting amoeboid?"

Varin laughed and took a seat across from Kaden, "If only, at least then I'd have an excuse for all the damage she causes. No, Lorna is my lab assistant and she's always causing problems. She's actually a brilliant geneticist, but she's just so clumsy." answered Varin while shaking her head sadly.

Kaden didn't look up from his work, but laughed all the same, "I'm surprised you haven't failed her out of the academy, let alone keep her as your assistant." he said only half-jokingly. "Since when did you have such a kind heart?"

"I should be the one asking you the same thing." Varin retaliated indignantly (as if being called kind hearted was an insult). "Who's this rich girl you brought down here? I didn't know you had friends, let alone a girlfriend."

Now Kaden looked up from his digi-pad, "She's not my girlfriend first of all, and secondly, how do you know she's rich?"

Varin shrugged, "The way she walks, the way she talks, that sheltered 'oh the poor cute kitten' attitude. You learn to see it after a few years at Nova. There are two kinds of students here, those that got in by skill and those that got in by Bolts."

Kaden dropped his digi-pad with an irritated grunt, "You may be right about her social status, but don't you dare judge her abilities." he defended hotly. "Her skill with the Harmonixium is way above most and I know she didn't need bolts to get in here."

Varin raised an eyebrow, intrigued. She turned to watch Sorana use the cat toy to entertain the tan kitten for a few seconds before turning back to Kaden, "What a gallant gentleman you are." she said mockingly. "In fact, I'm curious as to how true your first statement is."

Kaden shook his head and went back to his digi-pad, "What, are you saying, that a friend can't defend another friend from insults behind their back?"

Varin smiled almost pityingly, "Of course not. In fact, I'd say that's what a good friend should do. What I'm saying is that a boy and a girl can't be 'just friends'." she explained. "It's just not in the genetics."

"Oh no!" Kaden responded sarcastically. "Does that mean we're not friends? Or do you have hidden feelings for me too?"

Varin's smile didn't waver, "Oh to be young and naïve again." she mused longingly.

"You're only three years older than me!" objected Kaden.

"Hush, I'm in the zone." she ordered before refocusing herself and reapplying her pitying smile. "Of course we're not friends. We are master and pupil, colleagues maybe, occasional partners in crime, but our relationship is based on business. What's your relationship with that girl based on?"

Kaden finished his service order and looked up at Sorana through the window. The tan furred kitten had managed to somehow get on her back and she was desperately trying to catch it before it got tangled in her long hair…she failed.

Kaden laughed to himself for a moment before replying, "We're two good friends with a long history." he said assertively.

"Fine," Varin replied in apparent concession. "but if you're going to stick with that, at least tell me about this 'long history' that makes you two so close."

Kaden sighed before sitting back down, "Alright, but you have to promise not to tell anyone. If you do then that's the end of Bunsen burner burger Thursday."

Varin gasped, "But triple 'B' day was only just cooked up less than three hours ago! It might have become a 'thing' by the time I get the urge to tell someone." Varin gasped again in genuine horror. "You wouldn't be able to break it if it became a tradition would you?"

Kaden simply held Varin's gaze sternly, "That's how serious this is. Do you understand?"

Varin straightened her posture and matched Kaden's serious gaze, "Ok, I get it."

Kaden nodded and paused a moment to find his center before continuing, "As you might have guessed, I didn't have many friends when I was a kid. Well…I didn't have any friends really. Sure I got in trouble a lot and yes, I did use some of them for one or two experiments that didn't end so well, but that wasn't the real problem. My real problem was that I was just too smart for my own good."

"Ha." Varin scoffed at Kaden's remark.

Kaden's expression didn't change, "You can laugh if you want. I know it sounds arrogant, but it's the truth. I didn't always know that I was better though. Just like every other kid I enjoyed getting praised for high quality macaroni art or winning the Pre-ED triathlon. All I ever did was try my best to win…and then I did win...a lot. Better athlete, better artist, better student, I was the best by far. Everyone always told me to try my hardest and always be your true self. However, then…"

"Then everyone got jealous." Varin finished for him.

"I take it you've had a similar experience?" he asked.

Varin smiled, "I don't mean to boast, but I'm kind of amazing, if you haven't noticed." said Varin proudly. "Besides Kaden, this is Nova Academy. Everyone here is the best of the best on Fastoon. It's the reason you're here after all."

"I know." Kaden continued. "It's just, no one ever told me that if nobody likes your true self, then they shun you and you wind up alone." Varin laughed, a little harshly, as she saw the similarity in her own childhood. Kaden continued, "As you can imagine, I decided to simply keep going anyway. I beat everyone at everything. If I wasn't the best at something, I just kept doing it until I was and everyone I beat would turn on me. That was until I met Sorana and her Harmonixium."

"So your telling me that Sorana was the first person to still be your friend after you beat them at something?" asked Varin.

Kaden smiled, "Yes, but there's more to it. It took a frustratingly long time to learn the Harmonixium actually. It was easily one of the hardest things I've ever done. By the time I was almost as good as Sorana, we were both in Principle Ed. I had spent so much time with her by then that when I realized we were almost at the same level, I thought about not beating someone for the first time in my life." Kaden stared off as he remembered the terrible decision he had to make as a child. "But," he said, breaking his gaze and turning back to Varin, "I had already decided that I would do my best to be the best no matter what. And so…I beat her. There was no specific point in time where I surpassed her. There was just a time where I knew that she had realized it. She didn't mention it though. I could see it tearing her up inside and to be honest, it hurt to watch. I braced myself for the inevitable. Just like everyone else, I knew she'd resent me for surpassing her, but she didn't. Weeks went by and even though I knew it bothered her, she never once mentioned something or showed any sign of ill will towards me. If anything, she only tried harder now to catch up to me."

Varin clapped lightly and faked wiping away a tear, "Beautiful! Acceptance at last for the boy who stood too tall." she said. "You could make that into a romance novel."

Kaden laughed lightly and shook his head. He'd become used to these kinds of comments ever since he made the mistake of telling the same story to Alister, "Yea right. Who in their right minds would possible want to read a story as cheesy as that?" he asked humorously.

Varin shrugged in reply, "I'm sure there will be someone who will read it and I'm sure that when they do, they'll need a **Tissue**." she said.

"Are you going to tell my why you emphasized the word 'tissue'?" Kaden asked with a curious look.

Varin thought for a bit before responding, "I don't know why I did actually. I just felt like it I guess." she answered with an equally puzzled expression.

Kaden blinked a few times before mentally shrugging away the thought, "Anyway, that's not the end of my story. Back then I was completely confounded by Sorana's behavior, but to be honest, I was really happy. I had steeled myself so much in preparation to lose my closest friend that I hadn't known how much I didn't want to lose her. When I finally realized that she didn't hate me for surpassing her, I can't even describe the relief I felt. We continued on being friends just as we always had."

Kaden paused to look at Sorana through the window. She was sitting on the log while petting the tan furred kitten softly as it snoozed soundly on her lap. Now that the small creature was finally asleep it was time to make her leave the lab as they'd agreed, but that could wait for a while.

"I'm still waiting to hear the twist." said Varin. "Don't tell me that she's actually a boy?"

"What? No! What?" Kaden said in blindsided befuddlement.

"I'm just saying that it would be a really good twist to the story, and it would explain your hesitance without this really long life story." Varin explained.

"Hey, if you don't want to hear it, then that's fine." said Kaden before standing up. "I'm only telling you because you asked, but if you want to make jokes about it then I guess it's time to wrap up things here and get going."

Varin rolled her eyes, "Ugh, is that tail fake or something. Suck it up and sit back down before I demote you back to level one."

Kaden sat back down slowly, glaring at Varin while he spoke, "Fine then…As Sorana and I continued to be friends in Primary ed. something else happened. When a person is training to become a Harmonixium player, they are not truly considered a master until they can make their own song and the only way to make your own song from such a random instrument was to understand it completely. When Sorana finally got the word from her instructors to compose her own song, we both started to make one parallel to each other. It was just another competition between us." Kaden paused and his expression changed to reflect what might have been anger, but sad, "At first, it seemed easy. I could string together a few finger placements and my song sounded fine, but as time went on, I found that making a song for the Harmonixium was really hard. My playing sounded awful compared to the formal songs I had already learned with Sorana. I also didn't know how Sorana was doing with hers either. She had decided to work on it at home and refused to let me hear it. Naturally I had assumed that she was having just as much, if not more, trouble as I was and that she was just too ashamed to let me hear…but then she finally decided to let me hear her song. I guess I should have seen it coming really. I mean, Sorana had seemed slightly more cheerful than usual during those days before and when she played her song, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. It sounded smoother and softer, yet louder and stronger than any of the songs I'd ever played or heard played before. At that exact moment, I realized that I couldn't match her."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait…are you saying that 'The Great Kaden of Valmecha's 2nd district' actually lost at something?" asked Varin in genuine surprise. Kaden gave her a questioning look and she shrugged, "I do a little back ground checking on all my new students. There's this net page out there from some group called the K.E.K. I think. They have a lot of information about you."

Kaden groaned slightly. '_Those fanatical nut jobs still have their page up?' _he wondered in amazement, "Yep, I lost." he admitted sadly. "You see, I had learned the Harmonixium my way. I could watch performers play and I could perfectly mimic their hand movements. Any technique, I had no problem mastering it because I would never make a mistake. Many Harmonixium players will tell you 'that's impossible', but it's not. It's not even that hard in my opinion, but that meant I was nothing more than a robot. I don't usually give much thought to things like 'feelings' and 'having soul', but after seeing what someone who actually had passion, someone who had **real** skill could do…I just lost the will to fight and I told Sorana that I was tired of playing the Harmonixium."

Varin sat back into her chair (she had inched up to the edge of it without realizing it), "Wow, so she doesn't even know that she crushed you?" she asked with interest.

Kaden shook his head, "No, she knows alright. Immediately after I stopped playing, Sorana slowly stopped talking to me. I wasn't sure at first whether she was mad at me or disappointed in me, but then I found out later. She was definitely mad at me! One day she leaned that I had let my grades slip and I guess that was the bi-carbonate nano-straw for her." Kaden seemed to cheer up greatly as he recalled the memory, "I don't even remember it fully. There was just a whole lot of yelling and me trying to make myself as small as possible with my tail between my legs. She forced me to bring back my school scores and made me do all my homework. After a while, things just kind of returned to normal, except that Sorana wasn't afraid to let me know when I did something wrong anymore, and it's been that way ever since."

"So Sorana's the only person ever beat you huh?" asked Varin with only a hint of intention to rub salt in the possible wound.

Kaden laughed at Varin's attempt, "Maybe she was the first person to beat me at a particular talent, but then several years later I met another friend of mine, Alister Azimuth. He beat me at hoverbooting and combat sports. It's really because of him that I even participate in Military Field activities now." Kaden froze and his face twisted into a harsh scowl, "Then of course, there's Kor. He was the first Lombax to outsmart me and get away with it…but that all ends next semester." he added with a wicked grin.

"You've got a grudge against the Crimson Reaper of Nova?" laughed Varin. "How do you plan on beating him?"

Kaden looked up at Varin with a very pleased smile, "I'm glad you asked." he said cheerfully. "I've been working on all kinds of new weapons for next semester's MSE tournament. The next time we meet, things will end much differently."

Varin laughed again, "Well good luck with that. Though I doubt things will go your way, seeing as how Kor's a level three and won't be in the tournament."

Kaden breathed in with such sudden force that he inhaled some of his saliva and choked on it. He spluttered and coughed violently until he'd finally cleared his throat, "What do you mean he's a level three?!" he demanded angrily.

"Oh, so you really didn't know? Well, then I'm glad I got to be the one to tell you." said Varin with a smile. "You won't be seeing him at any MSE tournament again, I guarantee that."

Kaden slid back into his chair as the news sunk in. Just when he'd gotten such a great advantage (all the nanites from the Battleplex) and just when he'd thought the time was coming for his revenge, his goal simply moved further away.

Varin watched Kaden sink into depression with both interest and amusement, "You know, if you're looking for a way to face Kor, legitimately of course, then I might be able to help you."

Kaden ears perked up. Slowly he raised his head to look at Varin with a mixture of interest and caution, "How?" he asked simply.

"Have you ever heard of 'Capture the Depot'?" Varin asked with serious expression.

Kaden nodded, "I have." he answered as he recalled reading something about the combat sport in the Nova Academy archives.

"Well, I happen to know of a team, a good one, that's currently looking for a couple of new members for the upcoming season." explained Varin. "They're pretty selective, but I could probably get you an interview if you really wanted."

"Yes." Kaden answered firmly.

Varin's smile returned, "Alright, even though it's on short notice, I'm sure they'll see you if I ask, but don't say I didn't warn you. Also, registration of new members ends tonight at Last Hour. I'll link you if they say yes, but I suggest you get ready; and by ready, I mean bring your combat gear. They won't tolerate being left waiting."

Kaden stood up excitedly, "Oh, Alister's not going to believe this!" he exclaimed then suddenly stopped. "Alister!" she shouted with realization. "Varin would it be ok if I brought a friend with me as well."

Varin put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment, "I guess that's fine. They're considering a large number of other students as well, so two more shouldn't matter. As long as your friend is ready in time. They'll likely want to meet in the next hour."

"Got it." replied Kaden. "I'll link him right now to get ready. Uh, would you mind telling Sorana that it's time to go?" he asked with a quick glance over to the observation window. Sorana was still gently petting the tan kitten in her lap. The Animal Care unit would arrive in a hover ship above the atrium soon to pick up the animals.

"Fine." agreed Varin.

Kaden took off the moment she had agreed and ran out in the hall to alert Alister of the news. Varin shook her head and smiled in Kaden's wake. If nothing else, at least her new student was interesting she thought. She then turned and walked toward the observation window. Inside Sorana was still in the same position as before. Varin reached over to turn on the out-speakers…but they were already turned on.

* * *

Sorana's hand had been gently stroking the tan kitten subconsciously for the past few minutes. Her heart was racing so fast that she could hear the pounding in her ears and feel the hammering in her chest. Her mind was nothing but a buzz of jumbled thoughts, as it spun wildly in an attempt to comprehend what she'd just heard.

When Sorana had first realized that Kaden and Varin didn't know they'd left the microphone on, she had intended to tell them about, but her playful mood had driven her curiosity. Now she had just learned that one of the most defining moments in her and Kaden's history hadn't happened the way she'd always thought. She first questioned if it had been true, but she knew that it must have been true. Kaden hadn't known that she could hear him and even if he did, there was no way even he'd make a joke like this.

"Sorina!" called Varin over the out-speakers. Sorana didn't respond because not only was her mind on a rollercoaster, Sorina wasn't her name. "Hey rich girl!" Varin tried again.

The load noise woke a few of the animals, but they quickly fell back to sleep. Sorana was shaken into focus by it and lifted the tan kitten as she stood up.

"Yes?" she responded to no one in particular.

"Come on, it's time to go." said Varin. Sorana turned to look at the observation window to the see the brown furred Lombax staring at her and tapping the top of her left eye (which was where most heavily upgraded NID users had their chronometers displayed). Sorana then looked down at the kitten and couldn't figure out what she was supposed to do. "Just set it on the ground anywhere and get into the lab. We'll take care of the rest." Varin instructed.

Sorana did as she was told and followed the orders on autopilot. A moment later she found herself standing in the lab with Varin who was giving her an odd look as if trying to read her mind. Kaden walked in another moment after that and began talking, but Sorana couldn't seem to hear what he was saying.

Kaden then turned to look directly at her, "Come and be with me." he said softly.

"What?" demanded Sorana in cracked voice.

Kaden gave her an odd look, "I said, 'Come on, we have somewhere to be'." he repeated.

"Oh." said Sorana.

Kaden said goodbye to Varin and thanked her something, then he led Sorana out of the lab and back down the hallways. He occasionally said something as they walked, but Sorana couldn't figure out what he had said, or what she had replied with for that matter. It all passed in a haze and before she knew it they were back on the tram.

They rode the tram for a while, but Kaden didn't say anything as he sat across from her in the passenger car. Instead, he was just studying her carefully. Sorana realized that it was just her and Kaden in the car and she suddenly felt his gaze boring into her like summertime solar rays. She could even feel her face warm under their glow. She fought hard not to make eye contact, but eventually their eyes met. Fastoon's sun was setting in the window behind Kaden and it silhouetted him as he continued to stare unblinkingly at her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break from the sight, she was trapped.

"I have feelings for you." he said.

"What?!" blurted Sorana on the verge of hysteria.

"I said, 'are you feeling tired too'?" Kaden repeated with a deep look of concern. "You played with all of those animals for well over two hours straight. You must be exhausted."

"Oh…No, I'm fine." answered Sorana.

Kaden's look of concern didn't fade as Sorana mentally berated herself for being such a mess. Just because something in the past didn't happen just as she'd thought, doesn't mean anything was different. She needed to act normal because there was no reason to be acting the way she was now. She took a deep, calming breath and stepped out onto the tram platform.

This platform wasn't the same one they'd been to earlier. It was a hub station that all the academy trams could cross. It was full of other students, all bustling about to get to their trams. She followed Kaden as best she could, but she still couldn't focus right. Her mind kept wandering until she bumped into Kaden's back after he'd stopped. Kaden turned and looked at Sorana, then at the crowd around them.

Kaden reached back and took hold of Sorana's hand tightly in his and pulled her along as quickly as he was willing. Kaden hated crowds. The chaotic nature of them drove him crazy, but there was a different kind of urgency that he was walking with this time. A moment later, they were free of the crowds and the lifts that would take them to the center of the academy (neutral Field territory) was just ahead, but Kaden suddenly veered off and led Sorana to the opposite side of a wall, out of sight from most of the other students.

He pulled Sorana close and looked her straight in the eye, "Tell me how you feel." He asked sternly.

"What?" replied Sorana quietly. They were so close.

Kaden's look of concern deepened and he put his arms on Sorana's shoulders, "I said, 'tell me how you fell'." he repeated. "You're acting strange, is everything alright? Did Varin do something to you?"

Sorana could smell the faint scent of burnt electronics and chemicals. Kaden had always smelled like that and Sorana had always noticed it, but this time it just seemed to be so much stronger, "No, of course not." she answered. Sorana then gathered all of her mental fortitude and composed herself before looking Kaden straight in the eye. "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me." she insisted.

Kaden didn't look satisfied, but eventually he nodded his acceptance, "Alright then. Well, like I said, I have to go meet Alister in the Military Field for something, so I'll see you later?"

Sorana nodded, "See you later Kaden." she said calmly.

With one last look Kaden turned and headed off towards the Science Field teleporter terminal at the far end of the station. Sorana walked swiftly forward to the grav-lifts and stood in line for the next available one. A few seconds in however, her mind was reduced back down to its state of incoherent noise. She tried, once again, to make sense of her thoughts.

"Kor's a level three!" she blurted out as the memory of her mission crossed the quagmire of her cerebrum.

"What?" shouted a nearby student in complete surprise. "I've got a sixty bolts riding on him to win the next MSET. I guess that bet's off huh?" he said to another student.

The first student's companion turned to him with a grin, "Oh no it's not." The other student declared. "You go shooting your mouth off that you can guarantee the Red Reaper will win the next MSET for a week solid and think you can just get away with it? Well, you bet that he'd win the MSET and seeing as how he won't even be participating, I guess that means he loses by default." they explained with a sneer.

"Oh yah?" countered the first one. "Just try and get a single bolt out of me for it. I dare ya."

The two students grabbed each other by the shirt and wrestled violently while bumping and knocking other students over. The crowd was quickly disarrayed by the scuffle and soon several large, blue security bots came over to break up the fight.

Sorana didn't notice any of this however. In the midst of the ruckus, she heard a familiar beep that signaled availability of grav-lift and she autonomously walked towards it. As she rode the lift to the top of the mountain, she furiously tried to search for answers to her thoughts. By the time she reached the top however, she knew that she couldn't figure this out. The simple fact was that she didn't understand her own thoughts because she didn't understand the subject itself. She needed to find someone who could help her, someone who did understand. She needed to find Claire.


	26. Initiation

Kaden and Alister sat together while wearing full combat gear in a small waiting room near the Military Field training arenas. Kaden was wearing his old armor that he'd finally been able to repair and even add a few new upgrades too. He was pleased with the performance of the old G-83 armor, but it just didn't have the integrated circuitry he needed to control all the combat devices he wanted.

Alister sat tapping his foot nervously. He didn't really know what to think when Kaden 'convenient called' him over their NIDs, ordering him to get his combat gear and be ready to join a CtD team. Of course Alister knew what Capture the Depot was, but very rarely did anyone below a level four participate in them. He also knew that registration for new team members was closing tonight and couldn't imagine what team would still be looking for members this late.

* * *

Varin opened the door to a dark room and walked in. She took a seat next to one of the three figures that were already seated within and turned to the large holo-screen they were all studying intently. On it was a small box with a security camera feed set on two armored Lombaxes sitting in a Lobby. The rest of the screen was composed of two open files on the Nova Academy status of Kaden and Alister.

"Nice of you to join us Varin." said a female voice from one of the figures. The Lombax it had come from was tall with tan fur and brown stripes. Her head was shaved to the point of matching her normal fur length. This was common for most students of the Military Field.

"You're welcome, Cera." replied Varin arrogantly.

Cera smiled, "So tell us more about these two Fuzzies you brought us. I hope they're at least worth the effort I put into walking here."

Varin shrugged "Unfortunately, I don't really know much about them." she admitted. "Kaden is a new student of mine. He's not even in the military field and his MSET score was zero, but I know that he'd make an amazing tech. His Science Field scores are very high for his level and age. However, this is my first time seeing the other one."

Another figure, male with black fur, turned to address Cera, "So we have yet another set of useless fuzz balls for the grinder huh boss? Registration is in less than eight hours. I say we cut'em now and save us both the trouble."

The third figure replied to the second from the darkness, "The greatest musicians can make beautiful music from even a poorly made instrument, but even they can do nothing with no instruments at all." he countered.

The third Lombax had white fur and was male as well. He was also enormous! Easily one of the largest Lombaxes at the academy or possibly on Fastoon and his body appeared to be made from mostly muscle. The chair he sat in had to activate a micro anti-grav field to handle his weight.

"He means you don't have a choice." laughed Varin. "You guys have scared off every new recruit that asked to join before pre-season even started. Maybe you shouldn't have been so mean when you thought you had a full roster."

The black furred Lombax sighed, "I don't like the idea, but it's not my decision make, right boss?"

Cera nodded, "Don't worry Wraith, I know this white one, Alister Azimuth. He took second in the last MSET. If he was good enough to beat Vi then maybe he'll fair better than she did."

"Huh, I hope so." said Wraith with just a hint of sneer. Cera eyed the back of Wraith's head coldly and both Varin and the large Lombax looked at each other in concern.

"You forget your audience." warned the large Lombax.

Wraith turned to the large Lombax with curiosity and then, with sudden realization, turned to face Cera's gaze, "Boss..." he began hesitantly. "I didn't mean..." but his voice trailed off as she stared him down.

A long, silent moment later she breathed out slowly, before turning back to the holo-screen, "No, you're right." she admitted somberly. "If we're going to have any hope of winning the Platinum Trophy, we'll need someone better, so I guess our choice is made. Azimuth will be our new team member."

"And what about Kaden?" asked Varin with a concern that seemed odd to her three companions.

Cera turned to her with a questioning look, "I've seen him fight, he's not bad, but we already have a tech. don't we?"

"Uh, about that..." Varin began to reply guiltily. "Have I ever mentioned how much I don't like getting hit with giant, anti-tank OmniWrenches?"

Wraith glared at Varin accusing, "Are you saying that you're chickening out?" he demanded.

Varin returned the gaze with her usually unconcerned expression, "Sure, if that's what it means to you." she answered calmly. She then turned back to Cera, "You know I wouldn't bail on you guys, but you also know that I'm useless in a fight. That hasn't been a problem until now, but with Kor's new attack strategy, you'll need every member of the Tough Nuts to know how to handle fight. Not to mention Kaden's considerable mechanical skills."

Cera eyed Varin intensely, "Varin, you're the best Med. Tech in Nova. If it weren't for your nano-tuning then Vi might have been put out of commission for the rest of the season. Even if Kaden is as good a Mech. Tech as you say, then he can just work on our gear pre-match like most Mech. Techs."

Varin shook her head, "Kaden won't take a support role, it's not his style. Besides, he wants a shot at Kor."

"Then he'll have to get in line." interrupted Wraith indignantly.

Varin ignored him and continued, "I know you'll stand a better chance of winning if you make Kaden your Tech instead of me." she insisted. The room remained quite while the Tough Bolts considered the proposal.

The large Lombax broke the silence first by clearing his throat, "Even the finest violin cannot compete with a guitar in a competition of rock and roll." he said. "There is no shame in admitting it."

"Thank you Torque." said Varin with a nod of appreciation. She then turned back to Cera, "I'm not saying make a decision now. Just give him a chance to prove himself. Give him...a test."

There was a clear change in the atmosphere from the other three Lombaxes when Varin had finished speaking.

"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?" asked Cera with the ghost of grin hanging on her lips.

Wraith spoke up, "You know we stopped doing that with Fuzzies. Even I'm not that heartless."

Torque nodded his head in agreement, "Any instrument is useless if it's smashed to pieces."

Varin leaned back in her chair with no evidence of worry in her expression, "I'll make you a bet then, test them both at the same time. If they don't break, you take them both and I sit on the sidelines this season. If not, then stop after you break the first one and then just take the one that's still standing."

Cera contemplated the idea for a moment before smiling broadly and standing up, "I'll be back in a few minutes." she said. "Tell them to head into the arena."

After Cera left, Varin turned to Torque and Wraith with her own grin, "A hundred bolts says they both make it." she declared as she slammed her hand down on the table.

Wraith put his hand down on the table as well, "Hundred and fifty says your nerd breaks first." he countered. Varin smiled and nodded her acceptance to the wager and they both turned to Torque eagerly.

The large Lombax didn't move for a while. Then, slowly he placed his hand down as well, "This match will end with both those young performers in pieces." he said. Varin and Wraith looked at him with puzzled expressions. Torque smiled sadly, "A true artist like Lascera Suraisu never halts a good performance mid-way."

* * *

Kaden and Alister walked into the arena as Varin had told them to over Kaden's NID. Standing in the center of the circular room was a battle ready Lombax with firmly set lips under her helmet's dark visor. Kaden had spent half the time sitting in the waiting room wondering what he'd need his combat gear for and the other half concerned about Sorana's odd behavior. Now though, his mind cleared itself because the first question had been answered.

"See those weapons on the table there?" said the mysterious Lombax with a gesture. Kaden and Alister turned to see a table with several devices on it before turning back and nodding. "Those and your wrenches are the only weapons you may use so dump whatever you don't need now."

Alister and Kaden looked at each other before beginning to remove their gear. Alister dropped his grenade holster, his bomb glove, and his Combuster. Kaden removed the heavy modules on his gauntlets for his shields and disconnected his utility pack. The anti-grav motors in it deactivated and the heavy metal backpack that held all of Kaden's special gadgets and power cells slammed into the ground with a loud thud. Alister gave Kaden an odd look to which Kaden simply shrugged before shifting his gaze forward again.

Seeing that the two Lombaxes were finished, the Lombax spoke again, "Here are the rules: You may only use your wrenches and those weapons. Once you step onto the arena floor, I will attack you. If one of you manages to get a single, clean hit on my body, you win. If you leave the ring, lose consciousness, or die then you lose. End of rules. You may proceed when ready."

"Hold on." said Kaden. "Who are you?"

The Lombax's lips twitched as if to smile, but returned to their neutral state, "If you're still conscious by the time we're done, I'll tell you." she replied with no indications of jest. "Now grab your gear."

Alister didn't move, "You really think you can take us both without a scratch?" he asked.

Lascera didn't reply or show any sign of having heard him, she simply stood there waiting. Eventually Alister and Kaden turned and walked toward the weapons table. On it was six weapons from the three basic combat weapon types. There was one for each of them, a blaster type weapon (similar to Alister's Combuster), a shotgun type weapon, and explosive type weapons in the form of two bomb-gloves.

Kaden lifted one of the blasters and attached it magnetically to the lower-left side of his midsection. Upon feeling the magnetic grip of the holster, the blaster folded up to shrink its profile for storage. Kaden and Alister each equipped the rest of their weapons and turned to face their opponent. Alister had his blaster drawn while Kaden hefted his shotgun.

Just before they stepped onto the arena floor, Lascera spoke again, "I will only use my weapons so long as you have yours drawn." she informed them, before dropping down into a defensive stance and drawing a long OmniWrench from seemingly nowhere.

Kaden and Alister both recognized the wrench weapon. One of its prongs extended down to its hand guard in a very streamlined fashion and its top tip was sharpened to a point. It was called an OmniKatana because it had been designed to be more like a sword than a wrench. Its slim profile made it lighter and the extended prong increased its striking area. Judging from the size of the one Lascera was wielding though, it seemed that she had an even more streamlined version than a standard OmniKatana.

This told Kaden that she was probably quick with her strikes and it was all the more reason for him to keep her at a distance with his weapons. He and Alister turned to each other and saw that they were both thinking the same thing. Silently they agreed that their enemy was probably more skilled with a wrench and that they should keep their weapons drawn. They then simultaneously took a step forward.

Lascera's grenade had closed most of the distance between her and her targets before either Kaden or Alister had registered her switching weapons. They both dove and the orb exploded on the spot they had just vacated.

Kaden got up quickly, but was immediately chased by a stitching line of blaster rounds. Alister came to his friend's aid with his own salvo of blaster rounds. Lascera jumped back to dodge them easily and had her shotgun out before she landed. Alister had only just realized that there was a gun aimed at him when he was peppered with the flak of a spread-shot round.

From the range it was fired, the shot wasn't too damaging. But a lucky piece of shrapnel managed to find a soft spot in his leg armor. Dropping to one knee Alister tried to raise his weapon again. There was a loud bang just before he brought his gun to the spot where his opponent had been a mere millisecond ago. There was a click of metal on metal and Alister turned his head just enough to look down the barrel of a shotgun and see the grinning, half-hidden face of his enemy.

Thinking quickly, Alister dropped his blaster and it clattered to the ground at Lascera's feet. There was a short, cold laugh from her before she kicked the blaster out of the ring and lowered the shotgun. A moment later the shotgun came sailing back toward Alister like a club, but halfway to his face it seemed to magically transform into a wrench before it struck.

Bells went off in Alister's head as the blow left a deep dent in his helmet and cracked his visor. Just as his body was following his head away with the force of the strike, a grenade appeared just far enough for him to be clear of its blast zone. There was another bang that emanated from Lascera's feet and a jet of hyper-ionized plasma sent her flying just ahead of the explosive shock wave that gave chase a second later.

The overdriven jet-pulse of her hoverboots sent her straight towards Kaden. Kaden offered a short use of brain function to be amazed at how she'd not only dodged the explosion so quickly, but that she had dodged it in a way that was also an attack. Kaden switched from his bomb-glove to his shotgun as quickly as he could upon registering the close proximity to his enemy, but just as it had finished deploying, another shotgun round exploded in his chest at nearly pointblank range. The blast sent him sprawling and gasping to the floor. His own shotgun slid from his grip and skidded out of the arena.

Kaden rolled off his back and onto his stomach. Luckily, the attack had hit his largest piece of armor, the chest plate, and most of the force had been absorbed. Unluckily, he was now unarmed and had a blaster pointed directly at him. _'Wait a second,'_ he wondered, _'when did she switch to a blaster?' _He didn't bother finishing the thought as it looked like this was the end for him.

But Lascera didn't pull the trigger. Just like with Alister, she refused to use her weapon if he didn't have one. Instead she charged at Kaden with her wrench suddenly back in her hands. Kaden put his arms to his face to guard it, but his opponent ran past him. She stopped quickly and raised one leg as if to kick a ball. She then mentally activated another jet-pulse from only the one boot. With the added force of the super compressed plasma, Lascera planted her armored foot squarely in Kaden's rear and sent him flying, tail-over-head, straight into the dazed and just now standing Alister like a soccer ball. They both crashed back into the ground.

* * *

"GOAL!" shouted Wraith and Varin while simultaneously raising their arms high in the famous referee symbol for scoring a goal in a hoverball game. The two of them and Torque sat unseen in the observation stands above the arena.

"An excellent show." agreed Torque through a mouthful of popcorn.

* * *

Kaden helped a twice disoriented Alister shakily to his feet with a wary eye on their opponent. Lascera seemed content with allowing her prey to regain their orientation as she stood calmly on the spot she had just punted Kaden from.

Kaden took this small break to analyze the situation. Foremost on his mind was how much his tail was stinging at this moment, but that could wait for later. The next thing he analyzed was his opponent's speed and skill. Lombaxes were known for their agility and speed as well as their diverse gadgetry. If there was a possible situation then there was always Lombax weapon or gadget that was built for it. Higher level Lombax warriors are trained to implement a vast range of weapons during any single combat mission. Their skills were measured in both the number of weapons they can field and the speed at which they could swap between them.

It was clear that the Lombax he and Alister were fighting was a high level master of weapon switching, since Kaden wasn't even able to even see her do it. Conversely, Kaden and Alister were relatively low leveled in that category. Alister hated the complication of dealing with so many different devices, one of the many reasons why he preferred grenades and bomb-gloves to most conventional arsenals. Kaden on the other hand, simply lacked the reflexes that allowed such rapid selection and implementation. This was why most of his weapons were integrated into his gauntlets and/or controlled by his NID.

"What do we do?" asked Alister, still a little wobbly from the head trauma.

"We attack her together, wrenches only." Kaden concluded. "We can't beat her at switching speed, but if she won't use weapons so long as we don't use ours then we can overwhelm her. Are you ready?"

"Yes," answered Alister with squinted eyes, "but which one's the real one?"

Kaden turned to his friend and saw the still dazed look in his eye, "Alister, follow my finger." he ordered before raising his index finger and holding it up just in front of Alister's face. Kaden then move it back slowly until Alister's eyes refocused. "Better?"

Alister blinked a few more times before turning to their opponent and hefting his wrench, "Yea, let's do this."

Kaden nodded and together they both charged toward the calmly waiting enemy. Alister reached her first. He swung lightly, knowing full well that his opponent would either dodge or block it, which left him plenty of leverage to react. Even so, Lascera's counter attack was swift. She parried Alister's wrench, but was able to bring hers back just as quickly as Alister could. He just barely managed to stop the strike aimed for his ribs.

Kaden came in a second later swinging with full force. Knowing that his opponent couldn't block a heavy attack well with her light wrench, he was counting on the fact that she'd have no choice but to dodge it and everyone knows that if you can predict your enemy's moves, they're done for.

Lascera dodged the attack, knowing that Kaden had no chance of bringing it back to guard before she could strike. Unfortunately for her she was fighting more than one opponent. Alister had seen Kaden's move and figured out what he was planning. Alister's wrench was swinging for the exact spot his opponent would be before she even reached it. Still moving from her last evasion and unable to change direction fast enough, Lascera had no choice but to parry Alister's strike.

It took a lot of strength to block Alister's heavier attack with her lighter weapon and the recoil from the two micro-kinetic multiplier enhanced wrenches sent both of them reverberating away from each other. Once again this put Lascera and her opponent on even ground, but once again the difficulty of fighting two enemies showed its head. Kaden's swing was already coming at her before the echo of the previous strike had died.

Just before Kaden's wrench hit her, his opponent disappeared with a bang. Kaden's body followed through with his swing, but his head was immediately turned to the screeching sound of metal boots skidding to a halt on the arena floor. Lascera bled off her velocity and stood up to look at her opponents. She nodded in an impressed gesture to Kaden and Alister as they reoriented themselves and squared off once more. Lascera then pointed her wrench at them and flicked her head back as if to say _'Let's see if you can do it again.'_

Kaden and Alister were all too happy to oblige. Feeling confident from their last exchange, the two Lombaxes charged again. This time it was Kaden who reached her first. His strike was heavy and his opponent dodged it easily. Alister's strike came next and it was parried. In a blink, Kaden came around for the second strike in his multi-strike combo and Lascera once again dodged his attack. A moment later Alister's second strike whipped through the air and was met with another parry. Before anyone could blink, there was a hushed whistle that warned Lascera of a coming comet strike. With no time to even see where the attack was, Lascera had to guess and rolled away just in time to avoid Kaden's wrench by a hair's breadth.

Kaden had chosen wisely not to finish his combo. Besides being predictable, it offered too much time for such a skilled opponent to recover. Now that Lascera had to lose her footing to avoid an attack, her recovery time was increased by a precious few milliseconds. This was enough time for Alister to complete the haymaker third strike of his Multi-strike combo and with a clang and a spark, Alister forced his opponent to bring her weapon to the center of her body, preventing the recoil effect that would have separated them, and pinned her down to the floor on one knee.

Kaden saw this happen and carefully guided his Comet-strike's boomerang return on course to collide with his opponent's side. With nowhere to go, Lascera once again activated her hoverboot overdrive system, but with only one foot capable of being directed, her course was awkward and she only went half the distance.

Alister was after her before she had time to recover and he came down even harder than before with a powerful Hyper-strike that sent shockwaves of numbing pain down her arms. She was only just barely able to hold off the attack and was once again pinned to the floor. Kaden was in the air in a flash and coming down with his own Hyper-strike. In the back of his mind elation was taking hold as he saw there was no way out. His opponent couldn't move their body to dodge or use their wrench to block. The only same knee as before was once again pinned to the floor. Another jet-pulse from the first boot this soon would likely result in a hoverboot explosion. "_This was it!" _His mind yelled.

Sparks flew as Kaden drove his wrench down with as much force as he could muster. His visor reflected the bright flashes of superheated metal shavings as he watched with glee, the head of his wrench inch its way towards his opponent's heart. His mind froze in confusion however, when his attack was halted a mere centimeter from their armor.

Lascera had managed to stop Kaden's attack with her wrench however, Kaden could clearly see that Alister's wrench was still being held back by Lascera's wrench as well, so then how could both attacks have been stopped? Slowly the cold realization dawned on both him and Alister that Lascera was now holding two OmniKatanas.

The lips just under the dark visor that had been constantly twitching toward a smile were now split into a huge grin that spread from ear to ear. Slowly Lascera licked her lips as if savoring the sweet taste of something delicious.

"Very good." she whispered. Her voice held the tones of barely contained excitement and just a hint of extreme pleasure.

* * *

"Oh no." said both Wraith and Varin in unison.

Very shortly after the Tough Nuts had established 'the test' Lascera decided that she shouldn't administer 'the test' to Fuzzies and at about the same time she also realized that she shouldn't use both her OmniKatanas against most new recruits either. Very rarely had anyone ever forced her to use both her weapons. Sadly none of those skilled warriors ever joined the Tough Nuts due to what happened next. However, it wasn't just the drawing of both Lascera's weapons that told the Tough Nuts what was coming, it was mostly the wicked smile that split their leader's face.

Varin and Wraith turned to Torque who was happily munching his popcorn, "The curtain rises for the finale," he said with the air of someone having just been proven right, "and it will close on an epilogue of pain."

* * *

Lascera fell onto her back, pulling Kaden and Alister forward with their own weight before driving a foot into each of their sternums. They were both winded by the strike, but where literally knocked off their feet by the jet-pulse that slammed into their chests. Both Lombaxes were sent crashing across the arena floor.

Lascera was on Kaden first. He had only just managed to recover before an OmniKatana came screaming in to take off his head. He parried it with his own wrench, but was left wide open for the other OmniKatana to strike his gut. Before he could bring his wrench back from the first encounter, Lascera brought her first wrench in for a strike to Kaden's chest. This was followed by another strike that was countered by Kaden's forearm and another that was parried by Kaden's wrench. This was all topped off with a sweeping kick that cut Kaden's legs out from under him.

Alister charged in to help his besieged friend and put everything he had into his attacks. Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream as he swung harder and faster than ever. Despite the gusto of his assault however, Lascera was much more skilled than he was. Each time Alister swung, his wrench was deflected off course by a precise strike with half the power before a follow up strike from Lascera's second wrench hit his body.

Alister didn't feel the pain at first. He knew it was there, but there was too much adrenaline to in his system to be bothered by it. He fought like a mad dog and several times his fury driven attacks almost made contact with his enemy's armor, but every time it seemed like he may have gained an upper hand, his opponent quickly dashed them, along with his body, against the floor.

Kaden watched from the ground as Alister was slowly being torn down by the barage of impacts to his body and limbs. Kaden desperately wanted to go to his friend's aid, but knew that any attempts at rescue would be met with the same fate and it was clear that their opponent was no longer giving them any time to recover. Kaden knew that he only had one option left.

Finally Alister fell to the ground. With his strength exhausted and his mind on the edge of consciousness, he collapsed in a heap at Lascera's feet. Lascera then turned to Kaden. With the crack of propulsion jets, she was within striking distance a second later. Kaden put all his effort into his defense. He couldn't prevent many of the blows, but he could at least minimize the damage until the opportunity he was waiting for presented itself. Kaden used his body like the pieces of chess match, sacrificing hits to regions that were less sensitive while slowly pulling his enemy into a trap.

Kaden's armor was covered in dents and his whole body felt like one big bruise when his opponent finally drew back for a heavy double strike, an attack that someone like her couldn't possible pass up the opportunity to execute when Kaden had so graciously left an opening for in his defenses for it. With all the speed his numb arms could muster, Kaden drew his blaster stuck the barrel right in his opponents face, stopping it mere inches from the dark visor and the wicked grin.

The two combatants stood there for several seconds without moving. Kaden desperately wanted to pull the trigger on the still grinning face, but the two barrels of a shotgun and blaster pointing back at his own face warned him not to. Lascera hadn't fallen for Kaden's ploy and had drawn her weapons the moment Kaden reached for his.

His mind wrestled with the decision like War Groks over scraps of meat. One side told him that all he had to do to win the match was to pull the trigger and score a single hit. His opponent's grin was the widest he'd seen yet, wickedly curved in some twisted pleasure garnered from her love of a violent challenge. She almost seemed to be salivating in anticipation, just daring him to do it, begging him to do it!

However, the other side of Kaden's mind thought much further ahead and that same wicked grin told it everything. His sadistic enemy was simply waiting for him to decide. She was going to let him win the match if he could just prove that he had the tail to take victory from her. However, Kaden also knew that she wouldn't just let him have it without a price. The second he decided to pull the trigger, so would she. Both of her weapons were pointed mercilessly towards his face. Even if Kaden survived, he'd likely spend a long time in a hospital's intensive care unit. The logical side of his mind demanded that he find another way, because this one wasn't worth the price of victory.

Halfheartedly, Kaden's fingers loosened on the pistol in his hand and it fell through the air in slow motion before clacking on the ground and coming to rest at Lascera's feet. The wide grin on her face bent back into a frown.

Lascera clicked her teeth in disappointment, "What a letdown." she hissed with her guns still raised.

For a moment, Kaden feared that she might just pull the triggers anyway. With a sharp bang, Lascera drove her rocket propelled, armored knee into Kaden's gut, doubling him over and dropping him to his knees before a sweeping, round-house kicked to his head sent him sprawling. Still dazed and confused Kaden crawled away from his tormenter as fast as he could, as he gasped for air and vision faded from the impact.

Lascera shook her head and looked down at the blaster on the floor, "It's not nice to lead a girl on like that." she taunted angrily before lining up a kick to send the weapon out of the arena. "Maybe one day when your manage to grow a tai..."

Just before Lascera's boot reached the pistol, the plasma capacitor that Kaden had rigged to overcharge, reached critical capacity and exploded with the force of over a hundred individual pistol rounds. Lascera was blasted clear off her feet and sent skidding across the floor in a shower of sparks and shrapnel. Kaden squinted through blurry eyes at the sprawled form of his enemy, her armor covered in scorch marks and her body showing no signs of movement.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." he wheezed as he got unsteadily to his feet.

With a cautious eye on the Lascera's body, Kaden made his way to Alister's side. Alister was conscious and breathing shallowly, but he was also wearing a small smile. He was able to reach up and take Kaden's hand when it was offered. They said nothing as Alister used Kaden's shoulder to lean on and they both took a moment to recount the past few minutes. The two friends looked at each other, bruised and battered with barely enough strength between them to stand and they started to laugh.

The room went silent once again as the form of Lascera began to stir. Kaden and Alister watched as she sat up on the floor. She stretched her neck out one way and then the other before rising to her feet with her face turned away.

"We won." declared Kaden to Lascera's back. "An explosion to the face counts as a clean hit right?"

Lascera didn't show any sign of having heard him she simply stood there. After a moment, she turned around the face them with the previous neutral expression on her lips. Blood ran slowly from the corner of her mouth. She stuck out her tongue licked it experimentally. She then swirled the liquid in her mouth for a while, savoring the rare taste of her own blood, before spitting out a wad of red saliva onto the floor.

In a flash, Lascera was charging again with both OmniKatanas in her hands. Kaden and Alister pulled out their wrenches in surprise, but stood to face her. Just before reaching striking distance, Lascera pulsed her jet boots and drover a rocket-propelled shoulder guard into Alister's stomach, sending him flying out of the ring and slamming into the arena wall.

Kaden immediately swung in retaliation, but Lascera parried it with ease, before spinning around to deliver a heavy strike to the back of Kaden's knee with one of her wrenches. Like tree being felled by a logger, Kaden toppled backwards toward the ground. Lascera didn't let him simply fall however. Reversing her spin, she came back around to deliver another blow to Kaden's face, shattering half his visor and breaking his nose. The force also sent him on his way into the ground with an extra push.

Lascera put one leg over Kaden's body and straddled him before driving both her wrenches point first into the floor on either side of his head. She tore off her helmet and bent over close to his face.

"The Name's Lascera. Lascera Suraisu." she said nonchalantly from atop Kaden's sternum. "My friends call me Cera, " she added before leaning even closer and planting a kiss on the remaining half of Kaden's visor. It left a bloody lipstick-mark behind. "but you can call me 'Boss'. Welcome to the Tough Nuts."

* * *

**AN: I have closed the poll for the chapter releases, so now I'll mention that there's a 'fun facts' section for this story on my profile page. It's been up for as long as the poll has. I didn't mention it because I figured it would be a special treat for those who actually bothered to vote (thank you, those who did) as they would likely have seen it then. I'll have more polls later for things like favorite characters that will probably effect character line-up in future chapters, so I hope you'll share your opinions then.**


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